South Korean parties push green agenda ahead of April 10 election

In a first, conservatives, progressives rank climate crisis among top policy pledges

South Korea's deeply divided main political parties have shown rare alignment leading up to next week's parliamentary election, with both backing candidates and policies advancing a green agenda.

Surveys leading up to the April 10 election have shown that tackling climate change is largely a nonpartisan issue for South Korean voters, unlike in several other advanced economies where the gap between conservatives and liberals has widened.

In a first for an election in the country, the conservative and progressive parties have ranked the climate crisis among their top 10 policy pledges, but they will need to follow through with concrete actions to facilitate change.

Voters were reminded of the resource-poor country's precarious energy situation when South Korea cut off imports of Russian oil and gas in response to the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

This also revived awareness of the role nuclear power and renewables play in the energy mix for driving the economy.

"Climate change is like a musthave item on your agenda if you are a politician in the modern world," said Dr Kim Soo Jin, a visiting professor at Dankook University's graduate school of carbon neutrality.