A Relook on Energy Security After Fukushima 49 cent. The net hardest hit in order are Japan and South Korea and then the EU and India. The analysis projects a GDP decline of over 10 per cent in all these countries. While stockpiling can alleviate some impact, it is most important to promote cooperation among related countries to prevent supply disruptions from occurring.
Participation by Japanese companies in upstream investments and thereby obtaining autonomous developed crude oil is also an effective tool in energy security. While development investments decline globally when oil prices weaken because of risks, Japan has revised the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) Act so that it can provide more financial support to the activities of private sector companies, including acquisitions and investments in overseas state-run companies.
accordance with the rollout volume and ultimately let the price be decided in an auction.
The fourth step concerns the role of nuclear power as an important energy for countries with large populations from the 3E perspective of strengthening energy security and lowering GHG emissions. The concern is ensuring safety. This takes more than technology and requires a suitable regulatory scheme and establishment of a safety culture.
The final step is strengthening hydrocarbon reserves. National governments can reinforce reserves if it is difficult to set obligatory levels for private sector firms.
Japan’s experience in debating and implementing broadly defined energy security in the aftermath of the nuclear plant accident accompanying the Great East Japan Earthquake and massive tsunami provides a useful reference for many Asian countries.
NOTES
1. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)/International Energy Agency (IEA), 2014.
2. Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (April 2014), Strategic Energy Plan (Trans.), p 21. Available online at http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/en/category/
others/basic_plan/pdf/4th_strategic_energy_plan.pdf 3. Ibid.
4. Closing Oil Stock Levels in Days of Net Imports, Japan, International Energy Agency, September 2016, http://www.iea.org/netimports/?y=2016&m=09
4
Ensuring South Korea’s Energy Security?
Priorities, Problems and Prospects
Se Hyun Ahn
ABSTRACT
In recent years, South Korea has encountered a number of energy security problems. The nation’s energy diplomacy has virtually stopped functioning, mostly due to domestic political reasons. Furthermore, the nation’s energy security has been endangered because its policy has been poorly executed with no concrete goals and no rational choice of an energy mix plan. This chapter seeks to examine South Korea’s most urgent energy security agenda at the moment and recommends how the country should cope with these specific issues. This chapter also contends that the current problems of South Korea’s energy security and the deadlock of its energy diplomacy stems from the ignorance of the exact definition of energy security at the national level, which includes policymakers, academia and various political groups, including the top leadership. As a result, South Korea’s energy security is highly likely to face significant disarray in the coming decades since the nation’s energy security clock has been set back five years. Nonetheless, it is crucially important for South Korea to keep an energy balance of power between continental and maritime groups for the coming century.
Introduction
In recent years, South Korea has encountered a number of energy security and diplomacy problems. During President Park’s administration, in particular, most of Korea’s energy diplomatic activities substantially ceased to function, mostly due to domestic political reasons. Moreover, the
country’s energy security has been endangered because South Korea’s energy mix policy has been poorly implemented in the past few years in the domestic context. The policy clearly lacked concrete energy security goals and thus failed to adopt the right energy mix. This eventually led to the failure of energy diplomacy. This chapter intends to analyse South Korea’s most urgent energy security agenda at the present juncture and seeks to outline how the country should respond to these specific issues.
Moreover, it outlines South Korea’s energy mix policy according to various energy resources.
The current problems of South Korea’s energy security and the deadlock of South Korea’s energy diplomacy stemmed from the ignorance of the exact definition of energy security at the national level, including policymakers, academia, interest groups, different political parties as well as the President’s office. In the next few decades, Korea’s energy security is highly likely to face a significant challenge since the nation’s current energy security clock has been set back five years, that is, before and during the Park Administration, and there is grave concern that South Korea’s energy diplomacy will become stagnant. Nonetheless, South Korea must prepare for two levels of the energy alliance game in the region simultaneously: The first is forming continental energy alliances through pipelines and grid mechanisms, and second, through energy maritime alliances through the sea route and offshore resource development in the region. In particular, it is urgent and imperative that South Korea develops its Sector Seven oilfield with relevant regional partners in the near future since Sector Seven’s clock is ticking.