Around that time, Kim Jong-un emphasized “nuclear power” frequently…

As it was revealed that the documents deleted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials prior to the audit of the Audit Office included the’plan to promote the construction of nuclear power plants in North Korea’, questions about the purpose of the document are growing. The immediate observation is that the government has attempted to promote energy cooperation in response to North Korea’s denuclearization countermeasures.

Files related to’North Korea Nuclear Power Plant Construction Promotion Document’ out of a list of 530 files deleted by public officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy just before the audit of the Audit Office in December 2019. Report capture

It is noteworthy that the North Korean State Council Chairman Kim Jong-un mentioned the importance of nuclear power several times before and after the time the related document was written.


At the 7th Labor Party Congress in May 2016, Chairman Kim said, “We must build on a grand scale the power generation bases based on our country’s abundant power resources.” Said.


In addition, in the 2019 New Year’s speech after the inter-Korean and North Korean-US summit meetings, Chairman Kim mentioned the nuclear power plant, saying, “One of the most important and urgent tasks in economic construction this year is to dramatically increase electricity production.” “The provinces, cities, and counties must effectively develop and use various energy resources in their region while building tidal, hydro, wind, and nuclear power generation capabilities.”While

Nuclear power plants are an attractive option for North Korea, which is actually suffering from a serious power shortage. The plethora of uranium reserves, which are used as raw materials, is one of the reasons North Korea is unable to place nuclear plants. Already in the 1950s, when Chairman Kim’s grandfather, President Kim Il-sung, was in power, he showed a willingness to research nuclear power. In the Kim Jong-un era, the concentration technology was virtually completed.

Kim Jong-un, chairman of the State Council, announces the New Year’s address at the Labor Party Central Committee office on January 1, 2019. [연합뉴스]

At the 8th Labor Party conference held earlier this month, Chairman Kim presented intensive investment in the metals, chemicals, and light industry sectors as the central task of the new five-year economic plan, which is possible only when stable electricity supply and demand are premised. This means that in the end of the’self-rehabilitation’ that Chairman Kim is aiming for, the power problem can be at the core, which is why there seems to be a possibility that the Ministry of Industry may have considered promoting the construction of a North Korean nuclear power plant as one of the’significant proposals’ made to North Korea.

real Unification Minister Cho Min Gyun said in his 2019 New Year’s speech that Chairman Kim mentioned the nuclear power plant, he said, “It is worth paying attention to what it will mean in the denuclearization negotiations in the future.”


There is also a precedent. In the 1994-North Korea-US Geneva agreement, North Korea promised to freeze its nuclear facilities and the US to build two 1000MW-class light water reactors. Accordingly, Korea, the United States, and Japan participated in establishing the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) in 1995 and began construction of a light water reactor in the Sinpo area. Among the documents that were deleted this time, the’Kyeongsu reactor white paper’ and’the list of experienced persons related to KEDO’ were also included.

During the days of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, in July 2005, the then Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young proposed a transmission to North Korea. He said, “If North Korea agrees to dismantle its nuclear power, instead of terminating the light-water reactor project, South Korea has proposed to North Korea alone that it will transmit 2 million kW of electricity directly to North Korea,” he said.

Energy support was a content that did not fall into the agreement reached at the six-party talks. The September 19 Joint Statement of 2005 confirmed that “North Korea has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” and promised to provide light water reactors by other Parties at an appropriate time. Even in the 2007 February 13 agreement, it was decided to provide emergency energy assistance worth 50,000 tons of heavy oil on the premise of North Korea’s nuclear report and acceptance of inspections.

Employees related to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), who returned to Sokcho in 2006, are unloading their luggage from the Korean ship, the Hankyoreh. [중앙 포토]

However, the reason why this series of countermeasures was broken was because North Korea did not give up its nuclear weapons. KEDO ended when North Korea’s uranium enrichment facts were confirmed, but in the process of pursuing, there was constant noise, as North Korea did not comply with essential investigations for reasons of’sovereignty’ or did not comply with related agreements such as worker wages.


Some analysts say that Chairman Kim pulled out the nuclear power plant card after the inter-Korean and US summit meetings. It is argued that the light water reactor and uranium enrichment facility, which are known to be under construction in Yongbyon, are for peaceful nuclear use, not weapons, and may be a double track to use as a negotiation card. However, if it is true that the Ministry of Industry has reviewed the plan to build a nuclear power plant in North Korea after only one inter-Korean summit, it is inevitable that it has taken the position of North Korea as it is without an elaborate analysis of the past failures and tried to make a policy hastily. Seems to be.

Reporters Yoo Ji-hye and Young-kyo Jung [email protected]