Kim Yong-beom Suggests "Unlocking Power and Water": New Nuclear Plants and Dams on the Horizon?

[Anchor]

Regarding the multi-trillion won regional investment plans proposed by the government and major corporations, the presidential office has raised the topic of "unlocking power and water." This is interpreted as a signal to build more new nuclear power plants and dams.

Reporter Kang Cheongwan has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a post uploaded to social media by Kim Yong-beom, Chief of Staff for Policy at the presidential office.

Regarding the three major mega-projects, including semiconductors, announced on June 29, he stated that the "structural superiority of memory," or the semiconductor boom, has "brought a historic opportunity to Korea." He proposed, "Let's build fabs, let's unlock power and water."

As sufficient power and water supply are essential for national projects such as semiconductor bases and AI data centers to build an artificial intelligence ecosystem, his remarks were interpreted as a call to build additional new nuclear power plants and dams.

President Lee Jae-myung pledged an "energy mix" that combines existing nuclear power and renewable energy instead of the previous administration's "nuclear phase-out" policy, and even in the early days of his term, he did not place policy weight on building new nuclear power plants.

[President Lee Jae-myung (Press conference marking 100 days in office, September 11, 2025): It takes 15 years to build a nuclear power plant. And there is no place to build them.]

However, as power demand surged due to the AI boom, the government decided in January to resume the construction of two new nuclear power plants that had been pushed for but halted during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

The government may unveil plans for additional new nuclear power plant construction before the regular session of the National Assembly in September.

[Kim Seong-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment (MBC Radio, Kim Jong-bae's Focus): We need to quickly review whether we should build more nuclear power plants.]

The government recently announced a plan to increase the height of the Dongbok Dam in Hwasun-gun, Gwangju, by 15 meters to secure additional water needed for the Honam semiconductor complex, and there is speculation that plans for new dam construction, which were halted last year, could also be resumed.

Reported by Jeong Sang-bo and Yoon Hyeong | Video by Oh Young-taek | Graphics by Jang Hyun-gi | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.