South Korean election frontrunner backs only existing nuclear power. Will the election affect the Dukovany expansion?

South Koreans are electing a new president. However, the two main rivals have fundamentally different views on nuclear energy. Lee Jae-myung, now considered the election frontrunner, takes a highly pragmatic and cautious approach to nuclear energy – he primarily wants to support extending the operating lives of existing units. He is reserved about new units and would rather rely on renewable sources, Bloomberg reports. 

South Korea's presidential election begins this Tuesday. South Koreans are electing a new president nearly two years earlier than originally planned. After declaring martial law last December, the last president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was removed from office by South Korea's Constitutional Court in April. He had pursued a pro-nuclear policy in the energy sector.

However, Yoon Suk Yeol's pro-nuclear policy, which promoted nuclear energy as a means of reducing emissions and increasing the country's energy security, is now at stake. Nuclear energy, or rather the export of Korean nuclear technology, was intended to strengthen Korean industry.