Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jik visited the Gori nuclear power plant units 1 and 3 near Busan on Wednesday and Thursday to help reinforce countermeasures against cyberattacks on the country’s atomic power-generating facilities.

“We are 100 percent confident in our technical readiness against cyberattacks, but I know that this could be a matter of giving a sense of assurance and security to the public,” Yoon told cheering workers at the power plant’s main control room.

“We will put forth more efforts to assure people that our nuclear power plants are safe and secure,” he said.

Yoon stayed overnight at the power plant amid threats from a group of protesters who threatened to destroy the Gori and Wolseong power plants on Christmas Day with a computer virus. The minister later visited residents near the Wolseong plant in North Gyeongsang Province and briefed them about the government’s preparations against cyberwarfare.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, which overlooks the country’s nuclear power generation, has issued an alert to workers at the 23 nuclear reactors at Gori, Wolseong, Hanbit and Hanwool power plants. “Even if we lost Gori and Wolseong, we have 8.7 million kilowatts in stored electricity and would not suffer a power shortage for a while,” a KHNP official said.

Vice Energy Minister Moon Jae-do also assured the media that the technical firewalls of the power plant remained solid.

On Tuesday, he had denied that the hackers, who previously released confidential information about the nation’s nuclear power plants, had the ability to break down the firewalls and damage the facilities.

“We have just concluded a two-day drill against any attack. There is no way any outside cyberattack could pose a real threat to the facilities,” Moon said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)