REPUBLIC OF KOREA — The Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) has prepared a draft Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules for the Act on Support for the Establishment of Green Shipping Corridors (Green Shipping Corridor Act), with a public consultation period running from September 2 to October 13.
Enacted in 2026 and set to take effect on April 1, 2027, the Green Shipping Corridor Act establishes a legal framework to support both domestic green shipping routes and international corridors connecting Korean ports with overseas ports. Korea is the first country in the world to enact dedicated legislation supporting the establishment of green shipping corridors.
The proposed implementing regulations provide the detailed framework needed to put the Act into practice, including specifications for eligible fuels and technologies for green ships, requirements for environmentally friendly ports and criteria and procedures for designating green shipping corridors.
Korea has already expanded its green shipping corridor cooperation with major maritime partners. Korea and the United States began cooperating in 2022 to develop a corridor connecting Busan with the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, later expanding the initiative to include Ulsan. Korea and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on green shipping corridor cooperation in February 2025, followed by an MOU between Korea and Singapore in November 2025 to establish a Green and Digital Shipping Corridor. The new legal framework provides an opportunity to move these domestic and international initiatives from planning and cooperation toward implementation.
“Korea’s decision to establish the world’s first dedicated Green Shipping Corridor Act reflects the government’s strong commitment to turning shipping decarbonization into concrete policy and action. The government has made sustained efforts to build a clear and practical framework that can provide long-term direction for ports, shipping companies and other industry stakeholders, while creating the conditions needed to move green shipping corridors from planning to implementation.
I have been closely involved in the development of the Act and its implementing framework, and one area I have particularly worked to advance is greater clarity on the fuels and technologies eligible for support. Clearly specifying fuels such as methanol, ammonia and hydrogen in the implementing regulations is important for providing the policy certainty needed for long-term investment and ensuring that green shipping corridors support Korea’s transition toward zero- and near-zero-emission shipping.
I am pleased to see these efforts reflected in the proposed regulations and hope they will provide further momentum for the practical implementation of Korea’s green shipping corridors,” said Dr. Han-Seon Park, senior research fellow at the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) delegate of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF).
Pacific Environment welcomes the clearer direction provided by the proposed regulations on eligible fuels and propulsion technologies, including methanol, hydrogen, ammonia, renewable synthetic fuels, electric propulsion and fuel-cell systems. Clear eligibility criteria can provide greater policy certainty and help accelerate the transition toward zero- and near-zero-emission shipping.
“We sincerely welcome the Korean government’s development of the implementing regulations for the Green Shipping Corridor Act and, in particular, the decision not to include LNG among the specified eligible fuels. Korea’s enactment of the world’s first dedicated Green Shipping Corridor Act is an important milestone, and we recognize it as a strong example of the Korean government’s growing leadership in advancing the decarbonization of international shipping. Korea has already built significant momentum through green shipping corridor cooperation with major maritime partners, including the United States, Singapore and Australia. We hope this pioneering legislation and its implementing regulations will provide the additional momentum needed to move these domestic and international initiatives from planning and cooperation toward actual implementation and operation,” said Hyunju Kang, Asia climate campaign director at Pacific Environment.
The next step is to ensure that this policy ambition is backed by concrete action. Clear budget allocations, investment priorities and implementation mechanisms should be further specified and regularly updated to support eligible fuels and technologies, port infrastructure and the development of green shipping corridors.
Strong implementation standards will also be essential to ensure genuine emissions reductions. These should include rigorous lifecycle-based greenhouse gas and sustainability criteria for eligible fuels; clear timelines, budgets and investment plans for clean-fuel and electricity infrastructure at ports; and transparent systems for measuring, verifying and disclosing emissions reductions.
Pacific Environment will continue to engage in the public consultation process and advocate for effective implementation of the Act, including concrete budgetary and implementation measures. Pacific Environment looks forward to working with the Korean government and partners in Korea and internationally to translate this pioneering legislation into tangible shipping decarbonization and accelerate the transition toward zero- and near-zero-emission shipping.
Read the Enforcement Decree (Korean) Read the Enforcement Rule (Korean)###
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