South Korea's president rejects cheap nuclear power for steelmakers, citing fairness and cost shifts

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has come out against giving major steel companies preferential access to low-cost nuclear electricity. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment reportedly rejected direct nuclear power purchase agreements for energy-intensive industries, warning that such deals could shift costs onto households and other manufacturers through higher Korea Electric Power Corp. procurement costs. The push from steelmakers is tied to the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism, which entered its final phase in January. Steel firms want stable low-carbon electricity to move toward hydrogen-based production, but the government sees special rates as a fairness problem that would invite similar demands from semiconductor makers and other sectors. The decision sets up a broader tension between industrial decarbonization goals and the cost of getting there.