Environmental Protection and Development of Technology-intensive Industries: The Case of New Energy Vehicle Industry in Korea

Korea, being one of the leading producers of automobiles, has been shifting its attention to eco-friendly new energy vehicles (NEVs) facing the threat of global warming. Since the 1990s, Korea has tried to promote the electric vehicles industry by providing various subsidies and infrastructure. The Korean government’s active NEV promotion policy has stimulated the expansion of production scale and commercialisation of NEVs. Korea’s domestic automobile producers could develop technologies needed in producing fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) ahead of the other large producers of automobiles. The Korean government announced the roadmap to promote FCEVs facing the hydrogen economy. The policy measures implemented by the government may contribute to the Korean producers to be able to gain from the first-mover’s advantage. Korea’s active NEV promotion policy provides policy implications to the other countries in overcoming the global warming phenomenon.