As South Korea approaches a new presidential election, both the eventual winner as well as President Trump’s tariffs have the potential to craft new directions for South Korean energy.
The recent mood of political uncertainty in South Korea, capped by the effort of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol to establish martial law, touched off a series of legal and political disputes that led to the ousting of President Yoon and the calling for a new election on June 3. Given that most political polls expect Yoon’s conservatives to lose that election to a more liberal or even progressive political party, what changes do we expect to see in the South Korean energy sector as a result of this political change?
President Trump’s tariff war, in addition to having an impact on the adoption of nuclear energy in the United States, is likely to have an impact on South Korea. Indeed, South Korean Industry Ministry officials are traveling to Washington, DC for talks with their American counterparts about possible exemptions before the new wave of tariffs takes effect on July 8. But how will Trump’s tariffs affect South Korean natural gas and energy imports?
Finally, the U.S. government’s recent designation of South Korea as a sensitive country due to “security-related matters” has threatened to cast a shadow over the potential for further cooperation in what is now a seventy-year-long United States-South Korean partnership in nuclear energy. Is there still potential for cooperation in an era of “America first?”
In this episode of Three Questions, Paul Saunders speaks with Dr. Chinho Park, President and Distinguished Professor at the Korean Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH). Dr. Park’s lab is centered around designing new materials and devices for clean energy generation and energy storage, with a special focus on green hydrogen production from splitting water and green electricity generation from earth-abundant thin film solar cells.
Image: Shutterstock/Digitala World
