Vice Minister Park Ki-young: "Carbon Neutrality as an Opportunity for New Industries and Job Creation"

Park Ki-young, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Inaugural Speech
"Laying the Foundation for Carbon Neutrality This Year... Redesigning Energy Demand, Supply, and Market Structure, Strengthening Communication and Cooperation"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Park Ki-young, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, emphasized on the 9th that "carbon neutrality is an opportunity to create new industries and jobs for the sustainable growth of our economy," adding, "We must take a more proactive and future-oriented approach."

In his inaugural speech that day, Vice Minister Park stated, "Carbon neutrality is a very challenging and difficult task for us, given our manufacturing-centered industrial structure and high dependence on fossil fuels," and added, "It is difficult to achieve the goal with a negative and passive attitude of downsizing existing industries."

He said, "This year is a very important year to lay the foundation for moving toward carbon neutrality," and "We intend to focus on redesigning energy demand, supply, and market structure, creating future energy new industries and jobs, and strengthening communication and cooperation."

First, there is a plan to redesign energy demand, supply, and market structure from fossil fuel-centered to clean energy-centered. Vice Minister Park said, "We must prepare for securing the optimal power composition to mitigate the volatility of renewable energy, drastically expanding power grid infrastructure, integrated management systems for electricity, gas, and heat, expanding distributed energy resources, and proactive market system reforms," adding, "We must also thoroughly prepare for energy security, including stable supply of traditional energy resources, supply chain management of critical minerals necessary for carbon neutrality, and cybersecurity due to the convergence of power and ICT."

He also emphasized that carbon neutrality must be linked to future new industries and job creation. He said, "We need to create an industrial ecosystem in new industry sectors and expand investment through the convergence of digital technology and key industries such as renewable energy, hydrogen, and energy IT," and added, "We should also consider easing unnecessary regulations, creating a more competitive market environment, and expanding incentives."

Lastly, he emphasized strengthening communication with companies and industrial sites during the process of implementing carbon neutrality.

Vice Minister Park said, "Carbon neutrality is an important national agenda that requires fundamentally changing our economic and social structures," and added, "We must constantly communicate with companies and industrial sites to anticipate future industrial changes ahead of time and flexibly develop and respond to policies. We will find solutions through open communication and cooperation with all stakeholders, including local communities, companies, related ministries, and the National Assembly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.