Gangwon Province residents saying no to nuclear power in their scenic backyard

Posted on : 2014-10-01 16:53 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Local politicians backing resident demands that energy policy turn away from nukes and toward new sources
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By Park Soo-hyuk, Gangwon correspondent

Gangwon Province is uniting in opposition to nuclear power plant construction.

The campaign has expanded from the city of Samcheok, the designated site of a new nuclear power facility, to include 18 city and county councils in the province, the governor, and various civic groups. Particularly noteworthy is the widespread opposition to the central government‘s nuclear power expansion plans, not just from residents and political parties but from local government heads and council members.

The province’s association of city and county council chairs, representing 18 councils throughout the province, issued a call for the government to abandon its power plant plans for Samcheok at a monthly meeting in Jeongseon County on the morning of Sept. 30. It was the association’s first public display of opposition on the Samcheok issue, which has been raging since 2009.

“The residents of Gangwon Province do not want any compensation in connection with the power plant construction,” a statement from the association announced. “Neither do we intend to commit the error of endangering Gangwon Province’s precious resources and value for the sake of a short-term economic recovery.”

“The only solution to the Samcheok nuclear power conflict is the abandonment of the plant construction,” it continued. “The government needs to end the nuclear power focus of its energy policy and turn to new and renewable energies.”

The fight against the Samcheok plans now looks poised to spread beyond the city to local governments and civic groups throughout the province.

“Our concern is that if the power plant is built, it could endanger the clean and pure natural resources that people depend on not just in Samcheok, but all over Gangwon Province,” said Samcheok Mayor Kim Yang-ho.

Kim also said he planned to raise the issue as an official agenda item at a council meeting of city and county mayors on Oct. 23.

“I will ask all local government heads in the province to join forces in opposing nuclear power,” he said.

Gangneung Mayor Choi Myung-hee, who is chief of the provincial city and county mayors’ council, lent his support to the opposition movement, saying the power plant issue “isn’t Samcheok‘s problem alone.”

“The six cities and counties of Yeongdong, which share a pristine coastline on the East Sea, will never be safe as long as there are nuclear power plants in Samcheok, nor will anywhere else in Gangwon Province,” Choi said.

“If the people of Samcheok decide against nuclear power, then I think the city and county mayors’ council should march along with them,” he added.

Fourteen Gangneung-area civic groups staged a press conference at the city hall the same day, including the Gangneung Association of Civic Groups, the local chapters of Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice and Forest for Life, and Gangneung Citizen Action.

“The future and fate of the region hang in the balance with this nuclear power plant construction,” they declared. “If it cannot be submitted to a referendum, then nothing can.”

The groups went on to pledge “active support for the city and residents against nuclear power, and active solidarity for a successful vote.”

On Sept. 25, Kim Yang-ho joined Gangwon Gov. Choi Moon-soon and lawmaker Lee Lee-jae (Donghae/Samcheok) for a press conference at the National Assembly to urge a halt to the Samcheok power plant construction effort. Samcheok residents plan to go ahead with a referendum on Oct. 9 over support for the construction.

 

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