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President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 19. (Yonhap)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stressed that nuclear power is a key measure for overcoming the climate crisis during the yearly meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday. Economic groups immediately fired back that the president has once again revealed his overconfidence in the utility of nuclear power, while neglecting the role of renewable energy in responding to the climate crisis.

“Tackling the climate crisis is another task of great importance for all of us. Overcoming the climate crisis has become a common agenda for all nations on Earth,” Yoon said during a special address that lasted for about 15 minutes during his second day at the forum.

“Although energy security is emerging as an urgent agenda to address, energy transition and energy security are not mutually exclusive goals. As a key means to bolster our energy security while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, we must turn our attention to nuclear power and clean hydrogen,” Yoon said.

“The Republic of Korea has world-class technological prowess in nuclear power generation as well as outstanding nuclear power plant construction and operation capabilities and is willing to work with nations that need to tap into nuclear power technology to achieve their carbon neutrality goals.”

“Clean hydrogen is now receiving attention as a game changer for future energy,” Yoon said. “To this end, [the countries in] the Middle East and Europe that have great potential for green hydrogen production and the countries with advanced technologies in utilizing hydrogen such as Korea and Japan need to cooperate with each other.”

In a statement, Greenpeace said, “The speech today has once again demonstrated the government’s policy approach of neglecting the role of renewable energy in responding to climate change.”

By Kim Jeong-su, staff reporter

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