Muddled policies cloud Korean LNG outlook

Planned terminal expansions do not fit with Seoul’s stated goals of trimming LNG dependence

South Korea has long been one of the world’s largest LNG consumers, alongside Japan, China and—more recently—the EU. But despite a huge and ongoing buildout of regasification infrastructure, the medium-to-long-term outlook for Korean LNG demand is unclear. The country aims to meet its net-zero targets in part through a sharp reduction in its dependence on imported LNG, even while vacillation on nuclear policy brings additional uncertainty. South Korea has managed to trim its coal use in recent years and raise the proportion of gas in the generation mix as it seeks to achieve net zero by 2050. The government is closing ageing coal-fired plants and imposed a 28% tax on imports of the solid fue