Legal issues regarding energy market integration in Northeast Asia

Economic development brings along strong energy demand. Northeast Asia is one of the regions with the most potential for further energy development in the world. Due to the complex geopolitical dilemma, barriers haven't been eliminated in energy trade and investment; therefore, there is more competition than cooperation among the States in this region. The energy market of each State has not been interconnected, and the energy market integration progress is slow. This paper investigates the current situation of energy cooperation in Northeast Asia and the necessity of energy market integration. It analyzes the legal challenges faced by the integration of the energy market in Northeast Asia and examines instruments available to the integration. This paper proposes that Northeast Asian States should work together to eliminate energy trade and investment barriers, improve the level of interconnection in their energy markets, promote the efficiency of resource allocation, and deepen the regional market integration.