Political polarization and the energy policy paradox: assessing the impact of South Korea’s nuclear power phase-out policy

Abstract

Polarization surrounding nuclear power has intensified in Korea following the2011 Fukushima disaster. In 2017, President Moon Jae-in implemented anenergy policy that shifted the focus from nuclear to renewable energy,a departure from previous governments’ approaches. Additionally, Moonadministration supported various participatory governance initiatives to mini-mize social conflicts, including participatory deliberative polls concerning theconstruction of the Shin-Kori nuclear power plants. However, the Moon admin-istration’s policy was followed by polarization between nuclear and renewableenergy factions escalating toward the end of the term. We employed mixed-method approaches combining media and survey analyses to investigate thisissue. The results demonstrate that, despite initially appearing to be policyneutral, renewable energy alternatives underwent polarization under theMoon administration. We emphasize the need to investigate effective strategiesfor utilizing participatory projects as tools to break, rather than reinforce, thepolitical gridlock impeding energy transition.