President Lee Jae Myung applauds with attendees after a government-business MOU signing ceremony at the Southwest Advanced Industry Development Vision National Report in Gwangju on June 30. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung applauds with attendees after a government-business MOU signing ceremony at the Southwest Advanced Industry Development Vision National Report in Gwangju on June 30. [Yonhap]

Questions are mounting over whether the Lee Jae Myung government is quietly abandoning its renewable-energy transition, as reliable power supply emerges as the central prerequisite for an 800 trillion won ($515 billion) Samsung Electronics and SK hynix semiconductor cluster planned for southwest Korea.

When the Lee administration launched the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy last October, it positioned the expansion of solar and wind power as a core value, explicitly shifting the focus of energy policy away from industrial needs and toward climate action.

But the government's declaration that it would mobilize even fossil-fuel power plants to ensure stable electricity for the southwest semiconductor cluster has prompted calls to declare the ministry's founding mandate null and void — given that the new ministry was itself created by expanding the former Ministry of Environment.

Four semiconductor fabrication plants at the southwest cluster would require 6.3 gigawatts of electricity, equivalent to the combined capacity of 4.5 large nuclear reactors, according to government sources Saturday.

Kim Sung-hwan, minister of climate, environment and energy, said during an MBC Radio appearance Thursday that renewable energy alone would not be enough. "Semiconductors require a stable, round-the-clock power supply, and it is no easy task to meet that demand solely through the growth of renewables," he said, adding that whether to build additional nuclear reactors "needs to be reviewed quickly."

Kim added that land already exists for four additional reactors without developing new sites — two at the Hanbit nuclear power plant in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, and two at the Saeul plant in Ulju, Ulsan. "We cannot keep putting off this decision indefinitely," he said.

Since the announcement of the "mega project" that includes the southwest semiconductor cluster, signals favoring nuclear expansion have been coming simultaneously from Cheong Wa Dae and across the government.

President Lee said at a national report event on advanced industry development in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday that "bold and active investment will be made in the small modular reactor sector as well." Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the same day that the government is "reviewing the designation of SMRs as a national strategic technology."

Those statements are widely seen as evidence that the government is treating the question of additional nuclear construction as the decisive factor in the success or failure of its southwest semiconductor push.

Early in the Lee administration, the government was cautious about building new reactors, citing the practical reason that suitable sites did not exist. It has since reversed course by invoking a different practical reason — that advanced industries such as semiconductors and AI need electricity — first confirming nuclear construction plans inherited from the previous administration, and now appearing ready to go further still.

Because semiconductor fabs run precision processes around the clock, even a momentary outage or voltage fluctuation can cause catastrophic production losses. Solar and wind power fluctuate with weather and time of day, and their intermittency limitations are well established — which is why nuclear and LNG are drawing attention as reliable backup power sources.

Building nuclear plants takes years, so for the time being analysts say LNG generation is in effect the only power source flexible enough to ramp output up immediately when needed. LNG, however, emits methane throughout its full supply chain — from extraction and refining to liquefaction, transport and regasification — a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. While LNG produces less carbon than conventional coal-fired generation, it releases nitrogen oxides and other air pollutants during combustion that contribute to fine-dust pollution, and environmental groups are opposing the construction of additional LNG facilities.

LNG had been one of the words Kim — who has cast himself as a guardian of the planet — was careful to avoid. The southwest semiconductor project is changing that calculus.

The ministry had set a target of deploying 100 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 but had been reluctant to establish any regulatory framework around LNG. During discussions over the Ministry of Science and ICT's special act on AI data centers, passed last May, a provision that would have allowed data centers outside the Greater Seoul area to purchase LNG-generated power directly was considered but ultimately dropped from the final bill after the ministry objected, sources said.

"As the need for stable, 24-hour power to maintain semiconductor competitiveness grows, all generation sources — nuclear, LNG and fossil fuels — that were once taboo in the early Lee administration are expected to be mobilized," a government official in Sejong said. "Ultimately, this shakes the very identity of the ministry, which was launched to shift energy policy away from industry and toward climate action." The official added: "At this point, it would be more accurate to call it the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Power rather than the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy."


oskymoon@heraldcorp.com