The Asia Foundation

WASHINGTON, D.C.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s promotion of green growth as a “new national development paradigm” reflects the country’s assertive energy diplomacy and top-down national strategy. South Korea’s public commitment to low carbon, sustainable growth may be one of its greatest assets in attracting a new wave of partnerships and investments from governments and businesses, especially from the U.S., according to a new report by Jill O’Donnell released today by The Asia Foundation’s Center for U.S.-Korea Policy.

The report The U.S.-ROK Alliance: A Catalyst for Green Growth? explores the potential for U.S.-ROK cooperation on climate change mitigation and renewable energy. “South Korea’s Presidential Committee for Green Growth is committed to implementing a plan that applies climate-friendly policies to every dimension of South Korean life,” said Scott Snyder, Director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy. “It also enables the potential for U.S.-ROK technology tie-ups and private sector cooperation designed to make the green growth vision a reality.”

Among the report’s recommendations on potential areas for further U.S.-ROK collaboration:

• Technological standards can be an important area of exploration for future U.S.-ROK cooperation on clean energy technologies.
• Korea’s commitment to building or renovating two million green homes may present an opportunity for U.S.-ROK collaboration on cost-effective building materials.
• Although there are U.S.-ROK agreements in place to collaborate on smart grid technology, it is clear that, while many American utilities are interested in pursuing smart grids, technological challenges remain to be solved. These factors may present an opening for more U.S.-ROK cooperation.
• Sister city programs can provide the impetus for educational exchanges leading to enhanced bilateral cooperation. Small towns in the United States that are rebuilding themselves as green communities, such as Greensburg, Kansas and St. Charles, Maryland, would make good candidates for building green sister city relationships with South Korean counterparts.

O’Donnell offers three points to consider for U.S.-ROK cooperation:

• The emergence of a business movement that supports climate change legislation in the United States Congress, like that of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a group of companies and environmental groups pushing for climate and energy legislation, may enable new opportunities for private sector collaboration.
• Because initiatives on climate change mitigation and clean energy come from many different sectors and levels in the United States compared to Korea’s top-down approach to green growth, Korean organizations may find it difficult to identify the right U.S. partners.
• Decentralization of federal research and development, and the U.S. science budget as a whole, can make it difficult to pinpoint possible avenues of cooperation.

Jill O’Donnell, the report author and former Junior Associate of The Asia Foundation, holds an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, with a special interest in energy policy.

Download the full report, The U.S.-ROK Alliance: A Catalyst for Green Growth?

Learn more about The Asia Foundation’s Center for U.S.-Korea Policy.