IEEJ: November 2011 All Rights Reserved
Special Bulletin
A Japanese Perspective on the International Energy Landscape (63)

October 21, 2011

Japan's Energy Problem as Seen from South Korea and FranceKen Koyama, PhD
Chief Economist, Managing Director
The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan
Between October 13 and 19, I had discussions with many energy experts through visits toJakarta and Seoul and talks with French energy policy and industry experts. These discussions
commonly indicated that foreign energy experts are greatly interested in Japan’s energy policyreform.
The international community has offered sincere condolences to the victims of the tragic
March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster and warmly supported and praised Japanese people’sorderliness, patience and serious reconstruction efforts. At the same time, major foreign countries are
greatly interested in how Japan will solve its energy problem and reconstruct its economy andsociety in the face of unprecedented damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake and theFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. While they are very keen to support Japan, they arealso realistically and cool-headedly considering what lessons they should learn from serious
problems facing Japan and how they should maximize positive effects (including an increase inJapan’s energy resources demand) and minimize or avoid negative effects.
For example, South Korean energy experts indicated their great interest in directions,arguments and likely conclusions, procedures and schedules regarding Japan’s basic energy planreform. This means that they view the Japanese problem as their own important problem rather thansomebody else’s problem.
South Korea and Japan have traditionally had similar energy supply and demand structures.
Their similarities are too numerous, including poor energy resources, low energy self-sufficiency
rates and high dependence on oil and the Middle East, as well as the promotion of nuclear power
generation, natural gas uses, oil reserves and resources diplomacy for independent energy resources
development to overcome the above energy problems. Behind these similarities, they commonly
have a sense of crisis regarding their energy security vulnerability. Therefore, South Korea has
traditionally had great interest in Japan’s energy policy developments.
The fact that a key point for Japan’s energy policy reform is how nuclear power generation
should be positioned is of great significance to South Korea. This is because basic energy plans inJapan and South Korea have so far given top priority to the expansion of the share for nuclear power
generation as a domestic energy source and a zero-emission electricity source. In response to theFukushima accident, various opinions and arguments have emerged in South Korea on concerns over1

IEEJ: November 2011 All Rights Reserved
the safety of nuclear power generation. The problem that emerged in Japan has become SouthKorea’s own problem as a matter of policy concern. In this sense, South Korea has naturally growninterested in what energy policy Japan would compile through thorough national discussions and inwhat energy portfolio Japan would pursue.
Another key point for South Korea may be how Japan’s choices would influence theinternational energy market. Particularly, Japan’s growing LNG thermal power generation to help
make up for the suspension of nuclear reactors has prompted South Korea, the world’s second largest
LNG importer after Japan, to pay attention to how Japan’s natural gas/LNG demand and its naturalgas policy would change. At a time when South Korea is considering a plan for gas pipelines from
Russia via North Korea, it is natural for South Korea to have great policy interest in the future courseof the global gas market including the Northeast Asian market. In this context, South Korea has paid
close attention to natural gas policy developments in Japan.
France is in a similar situation. Since the oil crises in the 1970s, France has adopted thepromotion of nuclear energy as a top national policy priority and raised nuclear energy’s share of its
primary energy supply to a dominant level (38% as of 2010 according to BP statistics). France aswell as the United States is a world-leading country that has positioned nuclear power as a priority.
Even in France, however, the Fukushima accident has led to growing discussions on nuclear safety
and nuclear energy’s position in its overall energy portfolio. As presidential election campaigns
intensify toward next year, how nuclear power generation will be treated in policy discussions will
attract attention. The French Socialist Party has just elected Francois Hollande as its candidate
against incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy for the 2012 presidential election, toward which
various arguments are expected to emerge about nuclear energy that now accounts for some 80% ofelectricity generation in France. But the two candidates may commonly view nuclear as an importantenergy source. Whoever is elected president, France is likely to maintain its basic policy of giving
priority to nuclear energy in some way. As far as I remember, however, the nuclear power generation
problem might have never been at issue in French presidential elections. It may be rare for theproblem to become controversial in French major national elections. Therefore, for France (as wellas South Korea), Japan’s energy problem and policy reform discussions are not somebody else’sproblem. France has great interest in Japan’s energy policy reform and is closely watching arguments
for the reform. Another matter of concern to France may be that the nation with a leading nuclear
industry should learn lessons from the Fukushima accident to further improve nuclear power
generation safety and develop its nuclear business. Anyway, Japan’s energy policy discussions maybe significant for France.
Both France and South Korea give priority to nuclear energy and have advanced nuclear
technologies. Japan’s future course and policies are of great significance to the two countries inmaintaining their stances toward nuclear energy and achieving energy security, environmental
conservation and economic growth simultaneously. It may be important for us to recognize thatJapan’s policy discussions are now attracting global attention and are of great internationalsignificance.
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