Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
INTERVIEW Denmark leads green growth, seeks cooperation with Korea
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, right, attends a virtual summit with Korean President Moon Jae-in, May 30. The two heads of states agreed to elevate the ties between the two nations to a “comprehensive green strategic partnership,” reflecting cooperation in the fields of sustainability, life science, healthcare, technology and innovation, as well as political and economic collaboration. Courtesy of Embassy of Denmark in Korea
By Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Denmark celebrates its Constitution Day on June 5. The Scandinavian country signed its constitution on this day in 1849, ending the absolute monarchy and marking the country's first step to becoming the democratic country it is today.
The Constitution has been amended twice since then ― in 1915 and in 1953 ― to include women's suffrage, women's right to inherit the throne, fundamental civil rights such as freedom of speech, and private property rights.
"Though it is not an official holiday, it is common for workers to get a half day or the whole day off. Prior to the pandemic, it was common for Danes to celebrate Constitution Day by gathering outdoors to hear local politicians and other renowned figures give commemorative speeches. Afterwards, people would often sing songs together about Denmark, freedom, and democracy," Danish Ambassador to Korea Einar Jensen said in a written interview with The Korea Times.
The ambassador also shared his country's green vision and how Denmark and Korea are cooperating in tackling challenges such as the pandemic, climate change, aging societies and low birth rates.
"Denmark has long expertise and first-mover advantage in sustainable development. Coupled with Korea's fast paced, innovative, and technical competency, together we can lead the way in building a greener future," the ambassador said.
Below is an excerpt of a written interview with Jensen on the occasion of Denmark's Constitution Day. The excerpt has been edited for clarity.
Danish Ambassador to Korea Einar Jensen / Courtesy of Embassy of Denmark in Korea
Q: Korea hosted the second P4G summit in May, following the inaugural event in Denmark in 2018. How did the two countries support each other in hosting this summit and what is your impression of the second summit?
A: Denmark has closely cooperated with the Korean government to share knowledge and know-how based on our experience hosting the 2018 summit. We strove to actively engage the public and create forums for open discussions that would continue to keep the green momentum going forward.
I evaluate the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit as a great success. While the pandemic no doubt posed a great obstacle to hosting a multilateral summit, Korea did an excellent job hosting a virtual event that saw more high-level participation from the public and private sectors across the world than the previous summit.
The P4G Seoul Summit came at a critical juncture for the international society to step up its collective efforts to meet our climate goals. 2021 is the year when the world pledged to take action in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement. But not only that, the COVID-19 pandemic has helped us all see that the only way forward is to build back our societies and economies better and greener. And that is what P4G is all about.
Q: Denmark is a pioneer in clean energy. What was the motive for Denmark to pursue clean energy earlier than other countries, moving away from fossil fuel?
A: Denmark used to be over 99 percent dependent on imported fossil fuels. The Oil Crisis of the 1970's acted as a wake-up call for us to look for other options for energy security, and we turned our eyes to developing renewable energy. That's how Denmark embarked on a long journey focusing on harnessing the power of wind, biomass, biogas, and so on.
Since the 1990s, Denmark managed to decouple economic growth from its overall energy consumption. Danish GDP has increased by more than 55 percent, while Denmark's energy consumption has decreased by 6 percent, while CO2 emissions decreased by nearly 40 percent. Today, the mix of renewable energy in electricity production is over 70 percent, with many days seeing wind power generating over 100 percent of the domestic demand for electricity on very windy days. Denmark is living proof that it is possible to integrate renewable energy into the grid and power supply on a large scale without hindering economic growth.
Q: How did Denmark benefit from being a first-mover in the field? What advice can you give to Korea to become a leader of green energy in Asia?
A: Denmark is a prime example showing that going green, especially before others, is a lucrative and sustainable business. Being the first-mover has led to the green sector accounting for roughly 6 percent of all private jobs in Denmark as of 2020. In the same year, Danish companies held roughly 40 percent of the share of the offshore wind market in the EU. With the EU and the rest of the world increasingly pursuing wind energy and Denmark continuing to develop new, cutting edge technology in wind, Denmark will continue to reap first-mover benefits.
Denmark's advice to Korea is: Strike while the iron is hot. Korea has the potential to become Asia's leader in renewable energy exports. There are already Korean manufacturers in the supply chain for the global wind industry. Repurposing some shipyards and ports to house offshore wind facilities could support Korea's efforts to become Asia's top green exporting nation, not to mention have an immense impact on local job creation and the revitalization of local economies. Korea needs to take action now if it does not want lose first-mover advantage in Asia to other countries. There was a study recently carried out by Denmark and the Netherlands on the cost of energy in Korea, which found that Korea would greatly benefit by partnering up with foreign offshore wind companies in reaching its goal of 12GW by 2030. It was projected that such partnerships would greatly accelerate the development of the industry in Korea while bringing costs of development down.
Q: What are major similarities and differences between Denmark and Korea and how can the two countries cooperate in the field of clean energy and fighting climate change?
A: Korea and Denmark are both small countries with limited natural resources surrounded by giants. It is through the strength of our people and our daringness to push the envelope and pave the way that we are able to stand where we are today. You can even see proof of our ambitious nature in our countries' current goals for offshore wind energy: where Denmark aims to build the world's first artificial energy islands, Korea aims to build the world's biggest offshore wind farms, both for floating and fixed-bottom type farms.
Denmark has been closely working with Korea to share knowledge, technology, and best practices in developing offshore wind energy. The Danish Energy Agency and Korea Energy Agency have become very close partners in recent years, and the reflections of a Danish "one-stop-shop" model for offshore wind development can be found in both the parliament, where a bill was proposed in May to develop a Korean one-stop-shop model, and in the blueprints of the Green New Deal when it was announced back in 2020.
With our two countries now aiming higher with our offshore wind goals, there are now even more areas to explore for increased cooperation. One such area is Power-To-X, specifically the production of green hydrogen. Korea has a strong expertise in battery and energy storage technologies as well as in hydrogen, while Denmark has a long tradition of building large scale offshore wind farms that will allow a stable and efficient production of energy that can be converted to hydrogen. Korea and Denmark are ushering in the dawn of a new era of large-scale offshore power generation, and with will come many more new areas of collaboration.
Middelgrunden offshore wind farm / Courtesy of Embassy of Denmark in Korea
Q: President Moon Jae-in recently had summit talks with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen ahead of the P4G Summit. This year marks the 10th anniversary of a strategic partnership and green growth alliance between Denmark and Korea. What is the goal of the bilateral partnership?
A: On May 30, the heads of state of Denmark and Korea agreed to further strengthen our bilateral relations by elevating our Green Strategic Partnership to a comprehensive level. This reflects the deep cooperation between our countries within a broad range of sectors such as sustainability, life science, healthcare, technology, and innovation, as well as political and economic collaboration.
Looking to the future, the two heads of state discussed increased future collaboration regarding COVID-19 vaccines and other areas in life science and health; the peace process on the Korean peninsula; and renewable energy.
Q: What is the four-year Joint Action Plan between Denmark and Korea and what would be the benefits of the cooperation?
A: The first Joint Action plan between Denmark and Korea was signed back in 2016 spanning four years from 2016 to 2019. The Joint Action Plan signed between our foreign ministers in April this year spans the period of 2021-2024 and expands the scope of bilateral cooperation and joint activities of the 2016 document to the following four key themes: 1) Sustainability & Green Transition 2) Science, Technology & Innovation 3) Health & Life Science and 4) Political & Economic Cooperation.
Promoting the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will be a cross-cutting priority in all areas. Economic diplomacy and frequent high-level political visits will also remain priorities in all sectors with the goal of continuing the good level of public and private sector cooperation between Denmark and Korea.
Our two nations are complimentary partners with contrasting competencies that can be effectively brought together to tackle many of the similar challenges we are currently facing such as the pandemic, climate change, aging societies, low birth rate, and so on. Having this roadmap ensures that we will continue to be dedicated to enhancing our partnership across key sectors essential to both our societies.