By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter

Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) Yoon Jin-sik yesterday expressed his intention to resign, shouldering responsibility for the controversy in the selection of the nation’s first permanent radioactive waste repository.

``There has been a great deal of chaos since Puan County in South Cholla Province, was designated as the nuclear waste dump site last July, and all the responsibility for the trouble lies with me, as the minister in charge of the issue,’’ Yoon said in a statement. ``Hence, I will step down from my post.’’

President Roh Moo-hyun will decide whether to accept Minister Yoon’s resignation early next week, Presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said on Friday.

The spokesman said President Roh will likely appoint a new MOCIE minister immediately if the resignation is accepted.

He added that Yoon’s resignation has nothing to do with the Cabinet reshuffle planned around Dec. 22.

Chong Wa Dae officials have said Roh will conduct a minor reshuffle of the Cabinet and presidential aides toward the end of the year.

Minister Yoon said he had enthusiastically endeavored to tackle the issue in a manner that encouraged local governments to voluntarily participate in selecting the facility. He said he did not advocate letting the central government unilaterally designate (the nuclear waste dump site), yet the ministry failed to garner public opinion for the plan.

Yoon, who served as the vice minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) last year, was appointed as the first MOCIE minister under the Roh Moo-hyun administration nine months ago.

His sudden departure came after months of dispute between the government and Puan over the construction of South Korea’s first nuclear waste dump facility.

Yoon decided Wednesday to restart the whole procedure of selecting a site for the controversial facility after facing strong, violent protests over the past few months.

MOCIE officials said the government is searching for ways to receive additional applications from other local governments. The government will release a schedule for new applicants this year.

Currently, Puan residents are seeking a vote on whether to approve the nuclear waste dump, but a date for balloting has yet to be decided.

``I give my apology to Puan County residents and the public. I hope the referendum on deciding whether the county accepts or rejects the nuclear waste storage site will proceed with no problems,’’ Yoon said.

Residents of Puan have aggressively demonstrated against a government proposal made in July to build the country’s first nuclear waste dump on Wido, an islet off the southwestern coast of the country located some 280 km southwest of Seoul. Wido is a province of Puan County.

South Korea has 18 nuclear power plants either in operation or under construction, but has no waste dump. MOCIE said the permanent repository should begin construction from 2007 to avoid major storage problems on the peninsula. The country’s low-and-intermediate-level radioactive waste storage facility will reach its saturation point in 2016.

sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr