On February 17^th, 2022, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy announced that “we are doing our best to drastically reduce coal power generation to achieve 2050 carbon neutrality.” In fact, Korea is implementing various policies to achieve 2050 carbon neutrality, an international trend. However, these policies threaten the job security of power plant workers, damage the manufacturing-oriented domestic economy, and are unlikely to be implemented in Korea. Therefore, the Korean government must give up the 2050 carbon neutrality plan.

           First, carbon neutrality threatens the job security of power plant workers. According to the government in December 2020, 30 out of a total of 60 coal-fired power plants will be shut down by 2034 to reduce carbon emissions. 28 of the closures will be converted to natural gas (LNG) power plants. However, such measures make power plant workers tremble with fear of job insecurity. According to KBS, three power plants in Ulsan, which stopped generating electricity on February 10^th of this year, were shut down. Because of this, 20 subcontractors lost their jobs and about 200 workers had to be relocated to other areas. KBS reported that there are about 22,000 workers at coal-fired power plants across the country and more than 10,000 jobs will disappear if all coal-fired power plants are shut down. The employment crisis for power generation workers is expected to become worse in the future. Unlike regular workers who can be transferred, the situation is worse for subcontractors of coal-fired power plants. When a power plant is shut down or converted to an LNG power plant, the personnel responsible for managing coal transport and environmental material reduction facilities, which were managed by subcontractors of the power plant, are no longer needed. In other words, it becomes harder for subcontractors to find jobs. Thus, inequality in employment may occur depending on the type of work and employment, such as a decrease in the number of jobs taken by subcontractors, compared to the main contractors that employ them. According to the Hankook Ilbo on February 9^th, Lee Jeong-hee, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, who conducted a survey on the employment crisis in thermal power plants, predicted that "The employment crisis at the power plant to be shut down in the future will be very serious."

           Second, pursuing carbon neutrality by 2050 takes a toll on the manufacturing-oriented economy of Korea. In August 2021, the Korea Enterprises Federation stated, “As Korea has a manufacturing-oriented industrial structure and high dependence on coal/fossil power generation, a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly weakens corporate competitiveness and can have a significant impact on the economy and society as a whole.” Korea has a higher proportion of manufacturing compared to developed countries that pursue carbon neutrality. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in October 2021, the share of manufacturing in Korea's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 27.5%. On the other hand, Germany's manufacturing share of GDP was 19.1%, Japan 20.7%, and the UK only 8.7%. Due to Korea's industrial structure, it will inevitably suffer a lot of damage if it pursues the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 with these countries. Also, even without considering manufacturing, the pursuit of carbon neutrality has a negative impact on the overall economy. According to the Bank of Korea’s report on September 16^th, 2021, domestic GDP growth is expected to decrease by 0.32 percentage points per year on average. In addition, the consumer price will increase by an average of 0.09% every year as the import and production costs of companies increase due to the higher price of low-carbon raw materials. In fact, in December 2021, the World Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the price of lithium, a key raw material for electric vehicles for carbon neutrality internationally, soared by 240%. As such, the transition to a low-carbon economic system produces side effects such as shrinking manufacturing, huge production and import costs, and inflation.

           Third, it is unlikely for 2050 carbon neutrality to be realized in Korea. According to the government's announcement in October 2021, by 2050, the share of nuclear power generation in Korea should be reduced to 6% and that of coal power generation to 0%, while the share of renewable energy generation should be raised to 71%. Accordingly, the share of nuclear power generation, which accounts for 26.9% as of July 2021, should be reduced by more than four times, and coal power generation, which accounts for 33%, should be eliminated. At this point, the proportion of renewable energy must be increased 10 times or more to achieve the goal. However, the share of renewable energy in Korea ranked lowest among OECD countries in 2020 at only 6.6% of the nation’s total. In addition, increasing the proportion of renewable energy generation costs huge amounts of money. In August 2021, the Korean Nuclear Society announced additional costs to achieve a share of renewables of 50%-80% by 2050. According to the data, to achieve this number, the public will have to bear an additional cost of about 41 to 96 trillion won each year. Furthermore, the expansion of renewable energy blackouts due to unstable power supply and demand, as seen in the UK and China. On August 10^th, 2019, the UK suffered its worst blackout ever due to the breakdown of the world's largest Hornsea Wind Farm due to the UK being overly dependent on wind power. In September 2021, the first major blackout in 13 years occurred in China due to unstable power supply and demand in the northeast region, where new/renewable energy generation accounts for 26% of the total. Likewise, there are too many obstacles to overcome in Korea to increase the amount of renewable energy generation by more than 10 times in less than 30 years. The government should refrain from blindly seeking carbon neutrality to follow the global trend. Rather, a step-by-step policy that is suitable for the domestic situation and satisfies the public, as well as companies, is necessary.

           If the government's carbon neutrality policies continue, domestic power generation workers will lose their jobs due to the closure of power plants and will have to face employment inequality. In addition, the policies inflict a heavy blow on the economic system by shrinking the manufacturing sector. It is true that developed countries are actively making efforts for carbon neutrality by 2050, but they have already lowered the proportion of manufacturing and have been using renewable energy in an appropriate amount to realize carbon neutrality. Korea is unlikely to be able to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050. Therefore, the government should withdraw the 2050 carbon neutrality plan.

The supporters of 2050 carbon neutrality argued that it is necessary for preventing the global temperature rise, is a global trend, and it will help the Korean economy to keep pace with the global market. In contrast, the opposing side criticized the 2050 carbon neutrality, citing that it causes job insecurity for power plant workers, causes a major blow to the domestic economy, and is not suitable for Korea. Both sides are supported by logical reason. Meanwhile, the implementation of these policies in Korea suggests that individual efforts are also required as the need for climate change response has increased. It is expected for the government to lead the carbon neutrality policy in the best direction for the country, the people, and the world.