South Korea is aiming to lift its energy self-sufficiency rate five-fold to around 20 percent, President Lee Myung-bak said on Friday, after data showed energy imports have surged to account for one-third of total imports. South Korea, the world's 10th-largest energy consumer and the No.5 crude oil importer, spent $70.2 billion to purchase energy in the first half of this year, up from $43.3 billion a year ago, the Korea Customs Service said in a statement. During the first half, energy import prices rose more than 50 percent, the customs agency added, before oil prices topped $145 a barrel to a fresh record last week on fears of supply disruptions. “The government will establish an energy infrastructure taking into consideration the next 50 or even 100 years,” Lee said in a prepared speech for Parliament. “The energy self-sufficiency rate will be increased to about 20 percent.” Currently, the rate stands at a meager 4.2 percent, and Lee said the country's energy efficiency was a third of that of Japan because of a lack of preparation for the future, without elaborating further. The country has been trying to win overseas energy development projects to secure long-term supply at below-market prices. South Korea's energy imports in the first six months of this year jumped 62 percent, representing the biggest proportion of its total imports in more than a decade. Energy purchases in volume terms rose 5.4 percent, led by a 17 percent growth in gas imports and a 14 percent rise in coal purchases. The country, which sources most of its crude requirements from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, reduced its crude oil imports by one million tonnes to 58 million tons but the value of its purchases jumped 63 percent to $43.7 billion. Import prices of coal jumped 57 percent, while gas prices gained 42 percent. Separately, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, whose new conservative government has been rocked by weeks of street protests, vowed Friday to listen more humbly to the people but also stressed the rule of law. In a clear reference to the mass rallies against US beef imports, Lee also called for safeguards against the spread of false information, “prompting social unrest that spread like epidemics.” He also urged a return to rationality rather than excessively emotional behavior. The president was speaking at the formal opening of parliament, which was delayed more than six weeks by an opposition boycott in support of the beef protesters. South Korea suspended US beef imports in 2003 after a US mad cow case. In April it reached a deal with Washington to resume them in hopes of paving the way for a wider free trade agreement (FTA). Critics said the government rushed into the deal to please Washington and ignored the supposed dangers of mad cow disease, which Seoul and Washington say are non-existent. Weeks of sometimes violent mass protests ensued, fuelled by online rumors, making much of Seoul's city centre a night-time no-go zone. Seoul had to send negotiators to Washington to obtain extra health safeguards and the meat is now on sale.
