President Lee Jae-myung said on the 30th, "The world is in a state of chaos due to energy issues. In fact, it is a serious situation that makes me unable to fall asleep," adding, "The Republic of Korea should quickly switch to renewable energy."
President Lee said at a town hall meeting held at the Halla Convention Center in Jeju, "As with the problem right now, the situation seems to be more unstable in the future," adding, "The situation is not as good as I think." He said that the energy supply and demand instability caused by the Middle East crisis is more serious than expected, and that the government should reduce its dependence on the Middle East through the conversion of renewable energy in the future.
President Lee said, "The future is very dangerous if we depend on fossil energy," adding, "In fact, (fossil energy) is not produced on its own, but it is now in that shape after chasing imports."
President Lee said, "We need to quickly change all energy sources to renewable energy. For example, we need to quickly switch to electric vehicles, heat pumps, and wind resources. We need to speed up the transition quickly."
Regarding the government's policy to convert new cars in Jeju Island to electric vehicles, it ordered a quick conversion, saying, "It's an emergency, but it's too slow." President Lee said, "Let's make the purchase of new electric vehicles 100 percent by 2035, and we need to be more bold about renting a new electric vehicle. It's an emergency situation, but it's too slow."
President Lee expressed his opposition to the construction of a "submarine tunnel" linking Jeju Island to the land. After asking participants to raise their hands for and against the construction, Lee said, "Placenta is against. There are a lot more people who want us not to do it," and added, "We agree." However, he did not talk about the construction of a second airport, the biggest pending issue in the Jeju area. When asked about the pros and cons of the project, Lee said, "(One side) does not seem overwhelming," adding, "Please make a good judgment."
President Lee said, "In the past, we had a policy of reducing taxes when we moved our headquarters to the provinces, but since we used the concept of address, there were cases where we only moved our address slightly and received benefits," adding, "There are companies that are rising, but I don't think we should talk about them."
Reporter Joo Hee-yeon: joo@chosun.com
We can’t completely stop using fossil fuels, but it’s right to reduce our dependence on them.
While building new nuclear power plants, we should also expand renewable energy sources like solar, which can be used immediately.
Nothing should move in just one direction.
This is a time that calls for reasonable and practical decisions.