Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, said regarding 'RE100', which is regarded as a global climate crisis response measure, on the 23rd, “It’s a good slogan, but it’s practically impossible,” and added, “That’s a statement that shows a lack of understanding of reality.” RE100 is a voluntary campaign to replace 100% of the power that corporations need with environmentally friendly renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.) by 2050.
During the second TV debate for the 21st presidential candidates hosted by the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission, Kim was asked by Lee Jae-myung from the Democratic Party of Korea, “If we want to match the demand for RE100 from global corporations, our corporations also need to produce renewable energy. How can we cope with global demand if we raise the share of nuclear power to 60%?” He responded, “It's a good slogan in itself, but it cannot be RE100.”
Kim said, “This is something that cannot be realized until a considerable amount of time has passed, so to say it is immediately possible is to speak without understanding reality.” He also stated, “The proportion of nuclear power (60% promise) is not being properly utilized even among the existing nuclear power plants. We should check these and quickly bring back into operation the ones that have been repaired but not used.”
In response, Lee said, “Kim Moon-soo is the one who is truly unaware of reality,” adding, “RE100 is not related to whether we can bear it or not. Global corporations have already established the principle that they will only buy what is produced with renewable energy, so if we say we can’t do it, we cannot export.” He further noted, “Kim is making comments that are far too lacking in countermeasures.”
◇Lee: 'Maintain nuclear power but focus on renewable energy' Kim: 'Raise nuclear to 60%'
Lee, who promised to 'reduce nuclear power' in the last presidential election, has shifted his stance to 'maintain nuclear power' in this election. However, considering the risks of nuclear power, he stated, “Let’s utilize it moderately and transition to a society focused on renewable energy.” Given that the cost of nuclear power generation is low, he intends to continue with the construction of nuclear plants already planned, and gradually increase the proportion of renewable energy. He also mentioned plans to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2040 and expand renewable energy generation through “solar pensions” (solar power generation) and “wind pensions” (wind power generation), a model that distributes the sales revenue from installed renewable energy facilities to residents.
Kim promised to raise the proportion of nuclear power to 60%, which is double the current level (32.5%). The gist is to realize 'half-price electricity bills' by increasing the share of nuclear power generation to 60%. By increasing the proportion of nuclear power, the unit cost of electricity production decreases, which would allow for the reduction of industrial electricity rates. He also indicated plans to inherit the 'construction of six large nuclear reactors' project promoted by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and to accelerate the timeline for developing Korean small modular reactors (SMR) from the existing 2035 timeline.