By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-young

President Lee Jae-myung visited the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) in the Daedeok Research Complex in Daejeon ahead of the national briefing session titled "A Republic of Korea Dreaming of Scientists and Engineers Again" on Nov. 7.

The visit was designed to hear about the progress of nuclear fusion R&D, a future energy source to address the rapidly increasing electricity demand and carbon neutrality in the AI era, and to commend the researchers' efforts.

President Lee toured the KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) facility, the world's first superconducting nuclear fusion research facility, and learned about its operating principles and research achievements.

After hearing that KSTAR will contribute to creating an environment optimized for power generation through nuclear fusion reactions, President Lee expressed deep interest, asking, "Can the research facility be operated indefinitely?" and "Can fuels like deuterium and tritium be injected 24 hours a day?"

President Lee Jae-myung also pointed to the 10-meter-tall KSTAR core device and asked, "What kind of research is it primarily focused on?" He then asked questions about the principles of plasma generation within the device and the mechanisms that drive nuclear fusion.

Nam Yong-woon, Director of the KSTAR Research Center at the Korea Fusion Research Institute, stated, "With the construction of KSTAR, we have successfully made a leap forward as a leading nuclear fusion powerhouse." He expressed his ambition to lead the era of nuclear fusion commercialization through artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the development of a Korean demonstration reactor.

Accompanying the visit were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon, National Policy Director Kim Yong-beom, Senior Secretary for AI and Future Planning Ha Jung-woo, and President Oh Young-guk of the KFE.