The government will proceed with the planned construction of nuclear power plants as stipulated under an updated 15-year national electricity supply plan that was finalized in February last year.

Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Sung-whan said Monday that two new nuclear plants will be built by 2037 and 2038, after the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power secures a location and obtains approval by the early 2030s.

The plans to build the two plants, with a combined generation capacity of two-point-eight gigawatts and a zero-point-seven-gigawatt next-generation small modular reactor, had become uncertain after the change of government in June.

Two separate state-commissioned surveys conducted this month by Gallup Korea and Realmeter showed that more than 60 percent of respondents felt that the Lee Jae Myung administration should proceed with the plan.

The minister said carbon emissions must be reduced in all sectors in response to climate change, and that power generation should be concentrated in renewable energy sources and nuclear plants as the government aims to reduce coal and liquefied natural gas-generated electricity.