1. Introduction Energy policy in the Republic of Korea is at a crossroads. It dominated the issues in the 2017 presidential election campaign, with four of the five candidates pledging to achieve a nuclear power phase out, a coal-fired power phase out and the expansion of renewable energy use. After Moon Jae-in won the election in May, he announced the essence of his “ safe and clean energy policy ” , which he strongly pushed during his campaigning. He seeks to shut down aged nuclear power and coal-fired power plants, abolish plans for new reactors and expand the share of renewable energy up to 20 per cent by 2030. 1 Following that declaration, the Moon government established a Public Engagement Commission on July 26, 2017, to determine whether ongoing construction of two nuclear reactors, Shin-Kori 5 and 6, should continue. In a July board meeting right before the establishment of the Public Engagement Commission, the Korea Hydro& Nuclear Power Corporation(KHNP) voted 11 to 1 to suspend the construction. The decision received a strong backlash from nuclear power proponents, including professors in nuclear engineering, electronic and energy-relevant fields, the KHNP labour union, conservative media, reactor construction companies and residents living around reactor construction sites who argue that the post-nuclear policy, including suspension of Shin-Kori 5 and 6 reactors, will lead to local employment decline, local economic damage and compensation problems for residents. The Moon government also announced it would shut down 10 aged coal-fired power plants within its tenure. Because the country is struggling with air pollution, in particular problems related to a high concentration of particulate matter(fine dust) in the air, Moon further promised to temporarily shut down some coal-fired power plants during the spring season, when the adverse particulate matters are especially dense. The Public Engagement Commission was given a three-month mandate, during which time it was to set up a group of representative citizen participants and draft rules for it to follow to reach public consensus on the fate of the two nuclear reactors. On October 20, 2017, the Public Engagement Commission submitted its recommendations to the government, based on deliberative survey of the group of representative citizen participants composed of 500 citizens who participated in orientation, e-learning process and three day workshop(finally 471 citizens). Its recommendations are composed of two: One is resuming the construction of Shin-Kori 5 and 6 reactors and another is gradual reduction of the share of nuclear power, nuclear phase out. If carried out, these changes would be breakthroughs in the country ’ s energy policy history. Previously, the centralized energy policy was based mainly on large-scale nuclear and fossil fuel power supply. The Moon government intends a paradigm shift from the conventional energy system toward an energy system in favour of renewable energy and natural gas. As well, the Moon government wants to shift from a central administration making all energy 1 National Planning and Advisory Committee, Five-Year Plan of State Administration(Seoul: Government of the Republic of Korea, 2017). 5