Why Is Korea Lagging behind in Electric Vehicle Technology Innovation? Analysis of Korea's Electric Vehicle Technology Innovation Policy through the Lens of Systems of Innovation Approach

Abstract

This study analyzes the electric vehicle (EV) innovation policy in Korea. Korea has a number of good preconditions and indigenous capabilities that can create a new EV market and deploy EVs fast across a nation. Korea also has urgent needs to adopt EVs and develop advanced EV technologies as it is vulnerable to energy supply disruptions. Despite these pre-conditions and urgent needs, however, none of the domestic automobile makers so far have sold its own EV to the global market, and the adoption of EVs is very low domestically. Consequently, technological innovation of EVs in Korea lags behind. This cannot be solely explained by the neoclassical view of 'market failures' in an increasingly interdependent and interconnected system, it, instead, can be explained by systemic failures. Based on the problems and evidences, this paper reveals some distinctive features answering the following questions: (i) why such advanced technologies are not introduced in the market place when they delivers a variety of benefits to society when the society has urgent needs:, (ii) if there is no market, what are the role of actors and institutions, in introducing and deploying these technologies: (iii) what is the society's particular character in technological innovation and what are the barriers, (iv) How can the new technological innovation be introduced and sustained in the current system?