How Climate Change Is at the Forefront of Korea’s Goals

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Now, to the fight against climate change. Following a devastating monsoon season, activists in South Korea say, the government is not living up to its own target to become carbon neutral by 2050. Sang-Hyup Kim is the co- chair of the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth. And he sat down with Hari Sreenivasan to discuss South Korea’s climate policy.

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HARI SREENIVASAN, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chairman Kim, thanks so much for joining us. Let’s talk a little bit about how South Korea plans to deal with climate change. You as a country have a plan to get carbon neutral by 2050, which is —

SANG-HYUP KIM, CO-CHAIR, PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON CARBON NEUTRALITY AND GREEN GROWTH: Right.

SREENIVASAN: — enormous, it’s ambitious. And, you know, the concern is also what can you do between now and 2050? Right now, you’re decreasing the goal of your renewables by 2030. You are decreasing the greenhouse gas reduction goal for your industrials. And you still have, I don’t know, more than half of your energy is coming from fossil fuel.So, how does Korea get from where you are today to carbon neutral by 2050?

KIM: This administration led by the President Yoon Suk Yeol succeeded the pledge announced by the previous administration to make the carbon neutrality possible by 2050.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: But the real thing is the target by 2030. So, in that point, Korea also succeeded the pledge to cut 40 percent of its greenhouse gases compared to the level of 2018. And that’s a very demanding and daunting task. And you said we have moderated the portion of renewables. The penetration rate of renewables, in terms of power generation, last year, about 9 percent.

SREENIVASAN: OK.

KIM: But we are going to increase more than 21.6 percent plus (INAUDIBLE) by 2030. That’s more than 2.5 times bigger than now.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: This is a quite challenging one, especially when it comes optional wind power. We are going to increase more than 10 times

SREENIVASAN: So, you’re going to increase your renewables 10X to what it is today.

KIM: Sure.

SREENIVASAN: So, what do you do about industrials and manufacturing?

KIM: Industrial, yes.

SREENIVASAN: You’re a — you know, you punch above your weight in terms of how big of a country you are versus how much you manufacture.

KIM: So, Korea is, as you know, a kind of quite energy intensive industrialized country, which means Korea consumes a lot of energy. And that makes a lot of CO2. That reflects the industrial structure of Korean economy. But having said that, our dependency on manufacturer is almost 30 percent. So, if you look at that point and get the time given to us is less eight years by 2030.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: So, can you imagine to cut it by more than 10 percent is possible? And that’s what we are going to do. The previous administration pledged industrial sectors emission decrease by around 15 percent. That was too much. When we take a close look at the scientific rational ground for that, it was unreasonable, unrealistic. So, we had to make a coordination. And the best thing we could put come up with was around 11 percent.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: That is still quite a demanding one.

SREENIVASAN: Yes. So, what is to keep from future administrations from adjusting that and saying, here’s what’s realistic, here’s what’s reasonable and rational?

KIM: Well, the most important thing regarding climate policy is having policy consistency. So, I have some encouraging news to share with you. Last year, it is estimated our Korea’s greenhouse gas emission was reduced by more than 3 percent. So, cutting more than 3 percent of Korea’s greenhouse gas emission is quite encouraging one.

SREENIVASAN: How much of that was a reflection of an economic slowdown from the pandemic?

KIM: The period of pandemic, that was most severe. 2020 was most serious period.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: Affected by pandemic. At a time, the emission was reduced more than by 6 percent.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: But that was not due to the efforts of Korean government or Korean companies, that was mainly due to the external factors, such as pandemic.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: But last year, it has nothing to do with pandemic. So, it was done by having proper energy mix. So, we made a nuclear energy comeback to the right place and we have increased renewables in a very meaningful way and we have reduced coal fire power generation significantly. That explains the reduction we witnessed last year.

SREENIVASAN: You mentioned nuclear is making a comeback in South Korea. Are people here hesitant because of what happened in the neighborhood, so to speak, from the Fukushima disaster? There has to be concern here on what levels of safety and redundancies that you’re building in before you do this.

KIM: Safety is most important element in building nuclear power and running nuclear power plant. So, at the heart of Korea’s nuclear power companies, safety comes first. So, we got to make that set element most important. We also need to have a close collaboration with neighboring countries, such as Japan and China. China is building lots of nuclear power plant.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: And Korea is also dedicated to develop the future generation nuclear power, which is known SMR, a Small Modular Reactor, which is much more safer, which is going to be much more flexible and stable. SMR is the future of Korea nuclear power generation. And in the end, it will work in a kind of interoperable way with renewable energy. Because the small scale on nuclear power will be more flexible to work with the renewables. So, the final goal of having these two major energy source work together is to kick away fossil fuel, such as energy.

SREENIVASAN: Is there concern on the part of Korea about the release of the waters in Fukushima and how it would impact you, not just in term of your — the potential pollution, but also in your larger plans?

KIM: I think science should come first. So, if there is solid scientific evidence that the water is dangerous, we should stop it. But if there’s no scientific strong ground for that, so we can it reasonably. But we have to consider the element of the sentiment and worry ordinary people have. That is also very important element, which is composing reality. So, we need to be kind of very careful in responding to that matter. There are two dimensions. One scientific, the other, kind of psychological and sentimental element, which is also very important. So, Japan is to collaborate more opening with neighboring countries.

SREENIVASAN: So, right now, Korea’s energy mix still has more than a quarter of your energy, you’re getting from coal. A lot of that you’re importing.

KIM: Yes, right.

SREENIVASAN: More than a quarter you’re getting from natural gas.

KIM: Yes, right.

SREENIVASAN: So, how do you change the needs of today’s power even if it’s going to take a while for you to change the supply where you get the power from?

KIM: So, the war in Ukraine is giving us a lot of lessons. It is true that the — well, during the war — still at the war, but the —

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: — fossil fuel energy price went up very sharply and it went down. So, it is very volatile energy in terms of price.

SREENIVASAN: Right.

KIM: So, it’s no longer dependent, reliable energy source anymore. So, that’s why we made another determination. We now focus more on reliable energy such as nuclear and the other side, renewables. That makes economic sense also.

SREENIVASAN: So, do you see a trajectory where you are less and less dependent on coal and natural gas by —

KIM: Sure.

SREENIVASAN: — 2030, 2040, 2050?

KIM: Sure, sure.

SREENIVASAN: Is there a roadmap for that?

KIM: We have a search and roadmap for that. So, for example, in the year 2036, 26 coal fired power plant will shut down. So far, coal fire power plant, power generation is number one as of today, but it will be the fullest energy source in the year 2030. So, we are going to very rapid change.

SREENIVASAN: You know, I went to an island that you’re familiar with recently, Jeju Island.

KIM: Oh, yes.

SREENIVASAN: And I think one in 10 cars are electric vehicles there.

KIM: That’s right.

SREENIVASAN: You know, one of the concerns with electric vehicles is still that, right now, to physically move a gallon of gas is a very nice easy portable way —

KIM: That’s right.

SREENIVASAN: — for someone to get power, right, versus — even with fast charging electric vehicles, you need to rethink the infrastructure either on an island or a nation. Whereas, we have thousands and thousands of gas stations because they have developed over decades. Can your grid keep up? Because right now, in lots of countries, including the United States, if all the vehicles went electric, the lights would go out. There would be no way that everybody could plug in at the same time.

KIM: That’s why we need to develop a smart and flexible pricing system. You have flexible electricity pricing system that the electric vehicle owners can take advantage of the flexible charging price, charging system. That would be the one way. And we are also going to develop A.I. based electricity management system in the end.

SREENIVASAN: OK.

KIM: So, Germany has offered a kind of co-work with Korea to develop A.I. based smart grid system. In the end, A.I. is very good at making optimal management.

SREENIVASAN: Yes. So, you know, electric vehicles and solar panels are fine for people who are living in big cities and have disposable incomes. How do you make the green transition work for the most vulnerable parts of your population who are just trying to get by and who just want to get to their job the fastest quickest way, how do you make them part of this green revolution?

KIM: Well, that’s one of the reasons why Korean companies are developing all state solid batteries, for example. So, if you live in rural area, you don’t have enough charging system and you should go to the city to get your cars charged. But when it comes to our old solid-state battery, their charging time is very, very quick and the duration time is much, much longer. The most distance in Korea from Seoul to Busan is only 800 kilometers. Relatively short.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: So, we can take full advantage of electric vehicles, especially it’s going to be a fully autonomous in the end.

SREENIVASAN: Yes.

KIM: So, that’s why I said fully autonomous electric vehicle can play the role of energy carrier, which can contribute to the energy peak management.

SREENIVASAN: So, it seems that there’s also a race here for who will be the country that actually leads the rest of the planet, innovation-wise. I mean, when you are sitting at government meetings, do you see what’s happening here as sort of an opportunity and to say, if there are going to be better batteries, if there are going to be better solar cells, if there are going to be better designed wind mills, that our companies can make it?

KIM: Of course, of course. It is true that the Korea has many hard to obey sectors in our economy. They are quite energy intensive. But if you look at the other side, if we can improve these matters, we have a huge opportunity. That’s the philosophy of Korea’s green growths. That’s why Korea is concentrating on having green technology, green industry and green finance together, like a triangle. Recently, we had a special conference organized by our commission, commission for carbon neutrality and green growths. We are going to invest more than 100 U.S. billion dollars to nurture climate tech and climate industries.

SREENIVASAN: Where does money come from?

KIM: Well, besides the public money, besides the government budget, which is about 90 trillion won, which is 70 billion U.S. hundred dollars, that’s beside the public money. That’s coming from the financial sectors and companies. So, Korean banking financial group is committing very much to green finance. Now, Korean banking system, Korean financial sectors going to play a kind of change agent role in reshaping Korean economy.

SREENIVASAN: So, how do you, as a country, deal with climate change that’s happening because of what the whole planet is doing? And Asia takes a disproportionate amount of the pain. Countries along the Asian water ways, whether it’s bangle dash or the Andaman Islands or even Korea. So, when you go to a world body like the United Nations, what do you ask for, because you have an island that’s losing its land?

KIM: Yes, right. It’s a tragic thing to watch that sinking island. So, if you take a look at the so-called historic responsibility, the developed country should certainly do more to support developing countries, including small islands, countries, and Korea.

SREENIVASAN: So, are you a developing or a developed country when it comes to this?

KIM: Yes. We used to inject that kind of dichotomy for a certain time. It is undeniable. But Korea is now going to join the kind of so-called G7 club. Korea has joined the other climate club that was initiated by the German government, which is climate ambition alliance, something like that. And which means Korea wants to play its role in due course as a kind of newly developed country. The slogan of our commission is First Korean. It’s not like America First. First Korea means Korea now should be a country that will develop inevitable critical green technologies that can serve the interest of not just Korean people but also for the humanity in the world. That’s the concept of First Korea. Why can’t Korea — why can’t we be a country to serve the interest of human kind? That’s the new concept developed, initiated by President Yoon Suk Yeol. Korea is trying to host the World EXPO in Busan 2030, and he said when we made a presentation in Paris, Korea will devote to develop its capacity to solve the problems humanity is facing today, which include poverty, climate change, et cetera, something like that. The global common problems.

SREENIVASAN: Yes. Chairman Kim, kamsahamnida for joining us.

KIM: Kamsahamnida.