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David Fickling, Columnist

South Korea’s New President Has a Chance to Clean Up

Lee Jae-myung should make it a priority to tackle the roadblocks to renewables that are holding back the energy transition.

The cost of renewables in South Korea is sky high.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

The election of left-leaning former labor activist Lee Jae-myung as South Korean president Tuesday is just the latest example of how much of the world is moving in the opposite direction to the US.

In common with recent elections in Canada and Australia, it’s a rebuke of leaders on the right who’ve fought a rearguard action against the transition to renewables. Lee has promised to phase out coal, limit use of natural gas, and accelerate the building of wind and solar. His position on nuclear power, a major success story that was strongly supported by his impeached predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, remains ambiguous.