186 S. Y. KIM AND I. SUN
competitiveness. Given the low economic feasibility and unstable supply,
renewable energy did not receive much attention in the early years of
South Korea’s postwar industrialization drive. The first systematic initiative of the South Korean government to promote renewable energy did
not come until almost two decades after the launch of the governmentdriven economic growth plans. 1 Largely driven by the need to diversify
energy sources in the aftermath of two oil shocks, the Korean government
enacted the Act on the Promotion of the Development of Alternative
Energy in 1987.
With the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, the first international agreement to set mandatory goals for greenhouse gas reduction, the Korean
government amended the aforesaid law in 1997 with the emphasis on
environment-friendly energy. The name of the law itself was revised to
the Act on the Promotion of the Development, Use and Diffusion of
Alternative Energy. Several new clauses were added to this revised law. In
particular, the law mandated the government to create a long-term plan
for the systemic development of alternative energy technologies and the
widespread utilization of alternative energy (Article 4). Another notable
change was the introduction of the feed-in-tariff (Clause 6 of Article
11), according to which the difference between the base price and the
transaction price of electricity generated by alternative energy would be
supported by the Government Electricity Fund.
This revised law was extensively amended in 2004 as the Act on the
Promotion of the Development, Use and Diffusion of New and Renewable Energy. The number of articles was almost doubled from 19 to 35,
making the amended law almost a novel one. Most notably, the vague
term of alternative energy was replaced by “new and renewable” energy.
This was more than just the change of the name, however. As shown
in Table 8.1, the types of alternative energy were rather simple in the
first two laws, but were substantially expanded to cover almost all energy
sources other than petroleum, coal, nuclear power, and natural gas.
In addition, the scope of the special fund for technology development and diffusion of new and renewable energy stipulated in the law
was substantially enlarged. Previously such a fund was devoted only to
purely technological development. In the 2004 law, the fund was allowed
to support a wide variety of programs and activities to promote new and
renewable energy such as special training programs for the skilled workforce, international standardization, support for the implementation of
competitiveness. Given the low economic feasibility and unstable supply,
renewable energy did not receive much attention in the early years of
South Korea’s postwar industrialization drive. The first systematic initiative of the South Korean government to promote renewable energy did
not come until almost two decades after the launch of the governmentdriven economic growth plans. 1 Largely driven by the need to diversify
energy sources in the aftermath of two oil shocks, the Korean government
enacted the Act on the Promotion of the Development of Alternative
Energy in 1987.
With the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, the first international agreement to set mandatory goals for greenhouse gas reduction, the Korean
government amended the aforesaid law in 1997 with the emphasis on
environment-friendly energy. The name of the law itself was revised to
the Act on the Promotion of the Development, Use and Diffusion of
Alternative Energy. Several new clauses were added to this revised law. In
particular, the law mandated the government to create a long-term plan
for the systemic development of alternative energy technologies and the
widespread utilization of alternative energy (Article 4). Another notable
change was the introduction of the feed-in-tariff (Clause 6 of Article
11), according to which the difference between the base price and the
transaction price of electricity generated by alternative energy would be
supported by the Government Electricity Fund.
This revised law was extensively amended in 2004 as the Act on the
Promotion of the Development, Use and Diffusion of New and Renewable Energy. The number of articles was almost doubled from 19 to 35,
making the amended law almost a novel one. Most notably, the vague
term of alternative energy was replaced by “new and renewable” energy.
This was more than just the change of the name, however. As shown
in Table 8.1, the types of alternative energy were rather simple in the
first two laws, but were substantially expanded to cover almost all energy
sources other than petroleum, coal, nuclear power, and natural gas.
In addition, the scope of the special fund for technology development and diffusion of new and renewable energy stipulated in the law
was substantially enlarged. Previously such a fund was devoted only to
purely technological development. In the 2004 law, the fund was allowed
to support a wide variety of programs and activities to promote new and
renewable energy such as special training programs for the skilled workforce, international standardization, support for the implementation of