[Editorial] Government Should Set Good Precedence of Cash Compensation

Wido residents’ decision to offer their island for nuclear waste storage facilities deserves national praise in that their decision gave a green light to a government project which has been mired in delays for over two decades. The government’s decision to offer cash compensation to Wido residents seems to take the residents’ courage and sacrifice into account. The need of cash compensation to Wido residents is quite acceptable to some extent in that they made a difficult decision to accommodate nuclear waste storage facilities, which nobody had wanted to host in their residential areas for fear of the possible adverse effects on health and environment.

There are many things to be concerned about, though, because it is an unprecedented move by the government to offer local residents cash compensation in return for their permission in securing sites for particular projects. It may set a bad precedence over NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) facilities which are not usually welcomed by local residents, resulting in more difficulties for the government to persuade residents in future candidate sites and further increasing the amount of cash compensation they’ll need to give out. In addition, cash payment to Wido residents is likely to add fuel to the on-going protest mounted by despaired residents in Buan County, North Jeolla Province, which failed to clinch the government’s promise to offer cash payment in return for its offering of the site for storing nuclear wastes.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Company made a mistake by exaggerating that the residents would receive a total of 300 billion won in cash compensation from the government, inflating residents’ expectation. Therefore, it is difficult for the government to meet residents’ much inflated expectation toward cash compensation. Although it is expected that the total amount of cash compensation will not be great, given that some 1,400 residents are living in the Wido islet, clear standards for cash compensation should be set for the sake of future government projects.

Understandable and reasonable standards for compensation should be set. If not, whenever the government wants to build a facility to process and store nuclear wastes, it will face strong opposition from local residents. It is desirable for the government to reduce the amount of cash compensation as much as possible and increase indirect investment into this area, such as through local developments, provision of scholarship funds to local residents’ children, and the creation of new jobs for local residents. In addition, the government should come up with measures to prevent people from moving into areas where nuclear facilities will be built in the expectation that they can also receive the compensation.

Unlike residents in Wido who are content with their cash compensation, there is no sign of abating in the street rallies staged by angry residents in Buan County. They fear that the construction of nuclear facilities may result in a decrease in tourists visiting this area. In light of that, the government should draw up measures to ease concerns of residents in Buan County by disclosing related information on the project and to provide the government’s assistance to promote the local tourism industry.