1. The 5th ROK-US Energy Security Dialogue took place in Washington, the US, on June 8, with Director-General for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Scientific Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kwon Sei-joong and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Energy Resources Sandra Oudkirk leading their respective delegations.

※ As the leaders of the ROK and the US agreed to expand energy cooperation in their summit in 2013, the Foreign Ministry and the US Department of State held the first ROK-US Energy Security Dialogue in July 2013. The Dialogue marks its fifth this year.

- key agenda: △the two countries’ energy policies, △cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, △energy issues in Northeast Asia, and △cooperation between the two countries at multilateral forums

2. The two sides said that energy cooperation between the ROK, highly dependent on foreign energy sources (95%), and the US, which has emerged as a major energy exporter, provides an opportunity to boost the two countries’ energy security and energy industry’s growth in a mutually-beneficial way, and agreed to continue close cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector.

o The two sides welcomed the progress in energy cooperation between the two countries, which is demonstrated by the fact that the ROK was the second-largest importer* of US LNG, with the LNG trade volume between the two countries reaching 1.96 million tons ($805 million) last year.

* Top 3 importers of US LNG: 1st Mexico (20%), 2nd ROK (18%), 3rd China (15%)

o Considering the ROK’s high dependency* on energy imports from the Middle East, and the need to provide clean and safe energy to the people, Director-General Kwon hoped that the two countries will deepen cooperation in the environmentally-friendly energy technology sector to diversify energy sources and secure a diverse energy mix.

* ROK’s dependency rate on energy imports from the Middle East (in 2016): crude oil 85.9%, natural gas 47.7%

o The two sides especially agreed on the need to step up cooperation on the cyber security of the power grid, and agreed to look into concrete measures to work together on the area.

* unofficial translation