Science and ICT minister Lee Jong-ho said South Korea is pushing ahead with policies aimed at expanding nuclear energy use in line with the international community.

Speaking at the Nuclear Energy Summit 2024 in Brussels on Thursday, Lee explained Seoul's nuclear energy policies, such as construction of the Shin Hanul Three and Four reactors, continued operation of existing plants, and technological advances in next-generation reactors.

Emphasizing that South Korea is the world's fifth in nuclear power generation capacity, the minister pledged to continue research and development investments for promising technologies, like small modular reactors, aimed at tripling the world's nuclear power generation by 2050.

In pushing to fulfill the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, Lee called for the international community's solidarity in expanding carbon free energy(CFE) initiatives, which were proposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol at the UN General Assembly last September.

The co-hosts of the Summit Belgium, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union(EU), and the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), had invited 38 countries, including South Korea, that either operate a nuclear plant or are preparing for operation.