Trend Energy security shifts from securing fuel to system resilience

Summary

For decades energy security meant oil and gas, and the core tasks were to cut import dependence, diversify suppliers and prepare for price spikes, a lesson from the 1970s oil shocks that still holds. The author argues that the range of threats now extends well beyond fuel. Climate stress is testing the physical resilience of power systems, deglobalization is shaking supply chains for transition materials and parts, and deepening electrification is enlarging the structural vulnerability of the grid. The three are separate threats yet point in the same direction, moving the center of gravity of energy security from fuel procurement toward system resilience. Technology policy priorities must shift accordingly, with grid resilience, supply chains and grid-stabilization technology entering the category of energy security technology. Korea sits in the middle of this transition, combining world-class manufacturing with high dependence on foreign materials and a new grid-stability burden from renewable expansion.