South Korea’s climate pledge to cut coal, lower emissions clash with US
push for LNG purchases
[December 29, 2025] By
ANTON L. DELGADO and KIM TONG-HYUNG
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea is promising to shrink its
reliance on coal power as part of its pledge to reduce carbon emissions
that contribute to climate change, but that ambition is at odds with the
Trump administration’s push for more U.S. natural gas exports.
At recent United Nations climate talks, South Korea's new Ministry of
Climate, Energy and Environment announced plans to retire most of the
country’s coal-fired power plants by 2040 and to at least halve its
carbon emissions by 2035.
Experts say this shows that South Korea, a major coal importer with one
of the world’s largest fleets of coal plants, wants to speed up its
renewable energy transition, which lags behind its neighbors and global
averages.
But as part of trade deals with President Donald Trump, Seoul is raising
imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Climate activists contend
such plans may conflict with the country’s pledges to help curb climate
change and could lock South Korea into a fossil fuel-dependent future.
Talks are underway for South Korea to invest $350 billion in U.S.
projects and purchase up to $100 billion worth of U.S. energy products,
including LNG, a natural gas cooled to liquid form for easy storage and
travel. It burns cleaner than coal, but still causes planet-warming
emissions, especially of methane.
South Korea’s overall LNG imports may not increase if it offsets
purchases of more U.S. natural gas by reducing imports from other
sources such as Australia and the Middle East.
Still, it's unclear how South Korea will “manage and consolidate all
this somehow contradictory planning regarding its energy sector," said
Michelle Kim, an energy specialist for the U.S.-based Institute for
Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Power transition sparks climate goals
South Korea's liberal President Lee Jae Myung, who won a snap election
in June, campaigned for stronger climate commitments. They had softened
under his conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted after a
short-lived martial law declaration.
“As the global temperature rises, we all need to responsibly take
climate action and Korea will have a stronger sense of responsibility in
tackling the climate crisis," Kim Sung-hwan, the inaugural Minister of
Climate, Energy and Environment, said in an interview with The
Associated Press.
South Korea's goal to cut carbon emissions by 53% to 61% of its 2018
level, fell short of climate activists’ expectations. Business lobbies
representing major manufacturers had proposed a 48% emissions reduction
target.
“This range presents an effort by the government to accommodate two very
different ways of thinking about the economic and climate future of the
nation,” said Joojin Kim of the Seoul-based advocacy group, Solutions
for Our Climate.
South Korea faces climate dilemma over U.S. deal
The South Korean government made the ambitious commitment to increase
its clean energy use even after Trump's sweeping ‘America First’ tariffs
spurred energy negotiations between Seoul and Washington.
As part of its broader efforts to avoid higher tariffs, South Korea
offered to import more LNG from the U.S., but the final trade deal has
not been announced.
The agreement still under negotiation could last between three to 10
years, according to industry analysis and U.S. federal documents.
Depending on the deal's duration, South Korea may import between 3
million to 9 million tons of American LNG a year.
LNG made up almost a fifth of South Korea’s total energy supply last
year, according to the International Energy Agency, or IEA. The
government's target was to cut that to 10.6% by 2038.
[to top of second column] |
Kim Sung-hwan, center, the inaugural head of South Korea's new
Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, applauds after he made
the announcement of South Korea joining the Powering Past Coal
Alliance, during U.N. climate talks in Belem, Brazil, Nov. 17, 2025.
(AP Photo/Anton L. Delgado)
 South Korea risks its climate goals
if the pending trade deal increases the total volume of imported
LNG, which will likely lead to an oversupply issue and the excess
burning of gas to justify the deal, said Insung Lee, with Greenpeace
in Seoul.
“If we just replace coal plants with LNG, that means the coal exit
actually doesn’t lead to a green transition and merely shifts
Korea’s addiction from coal to gas, which undermines the whole
spirit of climate action," Lee said.
South Korea's energy mix
Renewable energy generated 7% of South Korea’s domestic power in
2022, according to the IEA. South Korean government data show that
had increased to 10.5% last year, still one of the lowest levels
among leading economies.
Japan, with an economy more than twice as big, generates 21% of its
power from renewable sources. Spain, whose economy is about the same
size as South Korea's, gets 42% of its power from renewable sources.
Clean energy provided about 30% of global electricity production in
2023.
Nuclear power produces a major share of South Korea's domestic
energy, with government data showing that nuclear sources accounted
for 31% of total electricity generation last year.
“We will transition into a new energy system that focuses on
renewables and nuclear, while phasing out coal,” said Kim, the
energy minister. He said South Korea will use LNG as a
“complementary or emergency energy source” to make up for
irregularities in renewable energy supplies.
In early December, South Korea set another goal of boosting its
offshore wind power capacity to 4 gigawatts, about 10 times the
current level.
South Korean companies that don’t cut back on carbon emissions may
find that to be a competitive disadvantage, said Michelle Kim of the
IEEFA.
Many global industries, including shipping and aviation, face
pressure to reduce their emissions by providing incentives for low
emitters and creating deterrents for high ones, she said.
“This is a lot of risk,” she said. “South Korea needs to speed up
renewable energy deployment and come out from high dependency on the
fossil fuel industry.”
Coal trade braces for South Korea cuts
At last month's climate talks, South Korea joined the Powering Past
Coal Alliance, a group of businesses, organizations and governments
promoting the green energy transition.
That's mainly a symbolic move, said Bruce Douglas, with the Global
Renewables Alliance. “But it signifies very clear government
intention to move away from fossil fuels and towards clean power.”
South Korea imports virtually all its coal, largely from Australia,
Indonesia and Russia, and the switch to renewables is bound to
impact regional markets.
The pledge to retire 40 of South Korea's 61 coal sites by 2040 may
be “an enforced transition" for coal exporters in the Asia-Pacific
region, said James Bowen, with Climate Analytics. “It’s a reality
that they’re going to have to face this downturn in the market.”
“The writing's on the wall," Bowen said. “One of the biggest
importers in the world, one of the biggest customers, is starting to
move away from coal.”
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