US-Korea Energy Security Dialogue Held: "Seeking Korean Companies' Entry into the US Market"

by Mun Jewon

Published 01 May.2024 12:38(KST)

Korea Gas Corporation, SK Gas, and Other Korean Companies Attend

The 10th Korea-US Energy Security Dialogue (Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 1st that it held the 10th Korea-US Energy Security Dialogue on the 30th of last month (local time) at the Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, USA, together with the US Department of State.

On the Korean side, Kim Hee-sang, Director-General for Economic Diplomacy Coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, served as the chief representative, with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the US, and the Consulate General in Houston attending. On the US side, Jeffrey Pyatt, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources at the Department of State, was the chief representative, with officials from the Department of State, Department of Energy, and the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) participating.

The dialogue discussed efforts for decarbonization and clean energy cooperation, reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, critical minerals and electric vehicle batteries, and multilateral cooperation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "This Energy Security Dialogue, held amid the recent deterioration of the Middle East situation and increasing instability in the international energy market, is significant in that it further strengthened energy security cooperation between Korea, which is highly dependent on energy imports, and the US, an energy-exporting country and ally."

In particular, at this Korea-US Energy Security Dialogue, energy companies from both countries were invited to hold a separate public-private joint event. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Korean and US energy companies explored business opportunities and exchanged diverse opinions on government policies.

Among Korean companies, Korea Midland Power, Korea Zinc, Korea Gas Corporation, SK Gas, Lotte Chemical, and POSCO International participated.

Attention is focused on whether this meeting will accelerate the entry of Korean companies into the US energy market.

The US is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and also has a large scale of renewable energy production. The US solar panel market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 13.7% from about $30 billion in 2022 to 2030. The hydrogen power generation market is also expected to grow at an average annual rate of 8.7% during the same period, from about $20 billion last year.