Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea’s Director General for Energy Policy Choi Yeon-woo at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Japan’s Director General for International Policy on Carbon Neutrality Kihara Shinichi at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) jointly held the Korea-Japan Energy Policy Dialogue today on the sidelines of the World Climate Industry EXPO (WCE 2024) in Busan. 

In view of Korea and Japan’s high dependence on energy import and similarities in the energy supply and consumption structure, the two sides acknowledged the need to bolster energy security and carbon neutrality response amid the recently unstable global energy market and supply chain crises, agreeing to closely cooperate on expanding clean energy, such as hydrogen, ammonia, and offshore wind power.

They also discussed plans for launching a global working group to accelerate the utilization of carbon-free energy sources and shared views regarding the collaboration between Korea’s Carbon Free Energy (CFE) Initiative and Japan’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Clean Electricity Initiative (ICEI), the two countries’ respective clean energy campaigns. In April this year, the two sides held bilateral trade and industry ministerial talks, where they agreed to cooperate through the CFE Initiative to achieve carbon neutrality.

Furthermore, they reaffirmed their role as co-leads of the global working group to be launched on the margins of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) slated for October 2024 in Brazil and decided to discuss related issues in detail. With aim to promote carbon-free energy sources for electricity (Scope 2) based on mutual collaboration between the CFE Initiative and ICEI, the two sides exchanged joint measures to this end, such as encouraging IPEF member countries’ participation in the initiative, creating a guidebook for clean electricity procurement companies, and hosting joint seminars.

Lastly, the director generals concurred on the importance of utilizing diverse and realistic means to achieve carbon neutrality in recognition of countries’ varying energy situations and industrial conditions, agreeing to further discussions on cooperation measures for carbon neutrality.