Photo: the King Whale exploration project. Credit: Korea National Oil Corporation.
On February 6, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy 산업통상자원부 admitted what has always been obvious: there are no viable underwater oil or gas deposits off the coast of South Korea’s eastern seaboard. The ministry launched its so-called “King Whale 대왕고래” project to investigate possible underwater resources in June 2024, shortly after Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열 and the People Power Party 국민의힘 suffered a crushing loss in the April 2024 General Election 총선거.
At the time, Yoon’s announcement of the project was seen as a desperate bid to shore up his flagging support. (See previous coverage, “Now, for His Next Trick.”) Eight months and KRW 100b (USD 68.5m) later, the skeptics have been proven correct. The Democratic Party 민주당, in a statement, said the Energy Ministry’s announcement showed that Yoon’s project was “a fraud.” The PPP insisted that the project remained viable, and demanded the ministry continue exploration.
