Typologies of policymakers’ perception toward energy transition in Korea: philosophy and resources

ABSTRACT

Energy transition is a crucial process in fighting climate change. Most policymakers agree with its importance, however, they follow different approaches toward achieving energy transition. This study examines policymakers’ perceptions of dominant energy resources and their philosophy toward energy transition. The study employed the Q analysis, which is suitable for exploring policymakers’ perceptions. A total of four major environmental philosophies were identified, namely ecocentrism, technocentrism, preventism, and marketism. The analysis of the results concluded that four types of perceptions could be derived from the factor analysis. The most popular type of perception is based on the comprehensive attitude that combines environmental values, safety, and economy. Through the analysis, two crucial implications are suggested: the necessity of energy mix and the long-term feasibility of energy transition. The results of our analysis can serve as useful evidence for establishing a robust energy transition policy.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy transition
• Korean energy policy
• policymaker
• Q methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea [NRF-2021S1A5C2A02087244].

Notes on contributors

Youhyun Lee

Youhyun Lee an assistant professor at the college of social science, department of public administration in Ajou University (Suwon, ROK). She holds her Ph.D. degree in Legal Science from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne (Paris, France). Her research interest includes energy, environment policy and local administration. Her recent articles appear in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice, Research in Transportation Business and Management, Membrane and Water Treatment. ([email protected]).

Minhyuk Cho

Youhyun Lee an assistant professor at the college of social science, department of public administration in Ajou University (Suwon, ROK). She holds her Ph.D. degree in Legal Science from the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne (Paris, France). Her research interest includes energy, environment policy and local administration. Her recent articles appear in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice, Research in Transportation Business and Management, Membrane and Water Treatment. ([email protected]).

Minhyuk Cho is a research professor at the Institution of National Public Policy in Chungnam National University (Daejeon, ROK). He holds his Ph.D degree in Public Administration from the Graduate School of Governance in Sungkyunkwan University (Seoul, ROK). His research interest includes science & technology, public relations and policy experiment.

Hyung Jun Park

Hyung Jun Park is professor of department of public administration and graduate school of governance at Sungkunkwan University in Korea. He is director of ‘Governance and Policy Evaluation Institution’. He is a Mosher Award winner, best academic PAR paper award from ASPA in 2009. His research on policy network, policy analysis, collaborative governance, regulatory policies, and other many topics has been published in Urban Affairs Review, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, American Review of Public Administration, International Review of Public Administration, and many Korean academic journals. He is also author of Collaborative Governance in East Asia: Evolution Towards Multi-stakeholder Partnerships. He received his Ph. D in Askew school of public administration and public policy from the Florida State University in 2005. ([email protected]).