Radical shift of Korea's domestic renewable energy policy under the pressure of sustainability was heralded by Korea's shift from the feed-in-tariff (FIT) program to the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) in 2012. Despite difficult challenges that lie ahead at the domestic level, introduction of the RPS ultimately brought about an increased distribution of renewable energy. However, the national renewable energy target has still not been met, and renewable energy distribution is remarkably low as compared with other countries that are associated with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Therefore, the current RPS must be revamped or the FIT must be partially re-introduced in order to achieve the national renewable energy targets. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.