Industry ministry denies rift with climate ministry over energy policy

South Korea's industry ministry said Monday that its minister's remark about inefficiencies in splitting domestic and overseas nuclear work was a call for stronger coordination with the climate ministry, not evidence of a policy rift.

The statement responded to a Nov. 2 report in the Kookmin Ilbo, which said the one-year split between the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the climate ministry had revived a "division" controversy over energy policy. The newspaper cited the industry minister telling a parliamentary audit on Oct. 22 that industry and energy "should go together" and that splitting domestic and overseas nuclear work was causing inefficiency.

The ministry disputed that reading, saying the comment described a need to strengthen communication between the two ministries as the country responds to the energy transition, and did not signal any split in duties or any clash of policy objectives.

It said the two ministries are working closely on nuclear exports, including on a so-called U.S.-Korea nuclear framework that has opened opportunities to export eight large nuclear reactors' worth of reactor types and supply chain, a scale beyond past levels.

On power supply, the ministry said it is communicating closely with the climate ministry so that demand from semiconductors and other advanced industries is properly reflected in the 12th Basic Plan for Electricity Supply and Demand, which the climate ministry is drafting.

The ministry said it will strengthen coordination with the climate ministry to ensure national energy security, carbon neutrality and industrial competitiveness, and to build a "virtuous cycle" in the nuclear industry in which a more competitive domestic ecosystem leads to export results that in turn reinforce the ecosystem.