South Korean President wants country to become “creative energy economy”

Goal is to save and use electricity more efficiently.

President Park Geun-hye said South Korea will make the best use of information and communications technologies to use electricity more efficiently as part of her "creative economy" campaign.

Park told delegates at the ongoing 22nd World Energy Congress underway in Daegu that the creative economy campaign will not only help her country save energy but will also create new markets and jobs. WEC is the world's biggest energy conference and is held every three years.

Her unique economic policy calls for creating huge business opportunities and more jobs through the fusion of information technology, culture and other industries.

"The energy industry is one of the areas where this creative economy paradigm can shine,” she said. “Taking advantage of ICT, such as energy storage systems and energy management systems, we will reduce electricity consumption and establish a system where the saved power can be traded at the power exchange.”

She also said the move will save up to 1 million kilowatts of power at peak times by 2017 and create a market worth US$3.3 billion and 15,000 jobs.

Park said the world is faced with what she described as an "energy trilemma." These are three major energy-related challenges: improving energy security, bridging social inequality and minimizing environmental impacts. She said South Korea is committed to working with other nations to address the challenges.