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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
The Republic of Korea's economy has been one of the economic marvels of the last few decades, growing rapidly and steadily, with few downturns. By 2010, the ROK had the world's 12th largest GDP, and ranked 10th among nations in electricity consumption and production, 10th in gas imports, 9th in oil consumption, and 4th in oil imports. The ROK has become an international force in several industries, including steel, automobiles, and electronics, and has experienced a large increase in the living standards of its people, as well as in urbanization. Much of the ROK's energy needs are supplied by imports, and the ROK has embraced nuclear power as a key source of electricity.
1 This paper is a revised and expanded version of a Nautilus Institute Special Report, “Case Study of Green Economy Policies: Korea.” The original report is available on the Nautilus website.
2 United States Central Intelligence Agency (US CIA, 2011), The World Factbook, available here.
3 Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), Energy Balances downloaded from KEEI's energy statistics website.
4 Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), 2010, Yearbook of Energy Statistics.
5 Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), 2010, Yearbook of Energy Statistics
6 Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), 2010, 2010 Energy Info. Korea.
7 Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO), 2010, Handbook of Energy and Climate Change.
8 Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO), 2009, Handbook of Energy and Climate Change.
9 Sources: IEA, 2010, Key World Energy Statistics; National Statistical Office, 2010; Mycle Schneider, Anthony Froggatt, and Steve Thomas, “Nuclear Power in a Post-Fukushima World: 25 Years After Chernobyl Accident,” Worldwatch Institute.
10 Yonhap News, “The Consortium of Korea Electric Power Corporation won a nuclear power contract of 40 billion dollars,” 12/27/2009.
11 Won-Tae Kwon, 2011, “Changes in land use resulting from abnormal climate and natural disaster,” Kugto, Vol. 353: 18-29. Some of the increase in temperatures measured in Seoul is doubtless due to the increase in the urban “heat island” effect as the city has grown.
12 Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO), 2010, Handbook of Energy and Climate Change.
13 Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO), 2010, Handbook of Energy and Climate Change.
14 It is possible that this change in the ROK's position was influenced in part by the status of Ban Ki-moon as the Secretary General of the United Nations. Ban began his term as UN Secretary General in January, 2007.
15 Office of Prime Minister et al., 2008, The 1st Basic Plan of National Energy (2008~2030).
16 The authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Nyun-Bae Park, Research Professor, Sejong University, ROK, in assembling Table 1.
17 See, for example, Green Growth Korea (2011), “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target”, available here.
18 Source: Presidential Committee on Green Growth (PCGG), 2009, “A plan for mid-term National Greenhouse Gas Emission Target Setting” and PCGG website (as above).
19 The Four Major Rivers project is discussed below.
20 See, for example, Yale University, “ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX 2010, South Korea”, Yale University, available here.
21 Korea Nuclear Energy Promotion Agency, 2010, “Survey Results of People's Nuclear Awareness in 2010.”
22 See, for example, J Wolf, IA Walkington, J Holt, R Burrows (2009), “Environmental impacts of tidal power schemes,” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Maritime Engineering, 162 (4). 165-177. Available here.
23 Though China is rapidly adding to its own nuclear fleet, and will likely soon also be among the top 10 nations as ranked by nuclear capacity.
24 See, for example, Park Seong-won, Miles A. Pomper, and Lawrence Scheinman (2010), “The Domestic and International Politics of Spent Nuclear Fuel in South Korea: Are We Approaching Meltdown?”, Korea Economic Institute Academic Paper Series, March 2010, Volume 5, Number 3, available here.
25 See, for example, Dennis Normile, “Restoration or Devastation?”, Science 26 March 2010: Vol. 327 no. 5973 pp. 1568-1570 (available here).
26 See, for example, Nocut News, 8/23/2011, “Controversy about employment effect of 4 river project” (in Korean).
27 For a description of the project, see, Kwi-gon Kim (2010?), “Urban Development Model for the Low-Carbon Green City: The Case of Gangneung”, available here.
28 See An Taisce and the Ireland Environmental Protection Agency (2011), “What is Green Home?”, available here.
29 The lowest-income residents of the ROK, the “energy poor”, spend a much higher proportion of their income on energy than higher-income residents and tend to use lower-quality fuels (Source: Ministry of Economy and Knowledge, 2008, “Reports of Energy Census”)
30 Source: Martinez and Ebenback, 2008, “Understanding of the role of energy consumption in human development through the use of saturation phenomena,” Energy Policy, Vol. 36: 1430-1435; UNDP, 2004, “World Energy Assessment”; Amie Gaye, 2008, “Access to Energy and Human Development,” UNDP's Human Development Report 2007/2008.
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