Kang Hoon-sik, Presidential Chief of Staff, announced on the 7th that he would depart that evening as a presidential special envoy for strategic economic cooperation, visiting Kazakhstan, Oman and Saudi Arabia to negotiate additional crude oil and naphtha supplies, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and domestic energy companies.
"We will work closely with companies that actually purchase oil and naphtha to ensure that high-level government consultations do not end as empty rhetoric," Kang said at a press briefing on the Middle East situation held at the Chunchugwan press center in the presidential compound. "We will spare no effort in providing necessary support until oil tankers and petroleum product carriers arrive at domestic ports."
Kang said the Presidential Office established an emergency economic situation room on March 25 in response to signs that military conflict was expanding and becoming prolonged. He noted that the president personally chaired three emergency economic review meetings, the most recent held the previous day.
"The government is devoting all its efforts to stabilizing the supply and prices of essential items for people's daily lives, including petroleum products and pharmaceuticals, as well as energy supply and demand," Kang said.
He added that the impact of the Middle East situation on macroeconomic indicators — the overall health of Korea's economy — has been assessed as limited so far. "Exports recorded an all-time high of $86.1 billion in March, and credit card spending rose 7% in March, followed by a double-digit increase of 13.1% in April," Kang said.
However, he cautioned that the emergency has persisted for more than a month, and it remains unclear how long the fallout will last. "At this point, the most urgent and important task is to minimize the impact on the livelihoods of the public and stably manage the supply of items essential to people's daily lives," Kang said.
"Our economy is heavily dependent on oil and naphtha imported from the Middle East, and it is true that there are difficulties in oil and naphtha supply due to that high dependence," Kang said. He noted that as of last year, Korea's dependence on imports through the Strait of Hormuz stood at 61% for crude oil and 54% for naphtha. "Until the Middle East situation is fully resolved, efforts to secure alternative supply lines are desperately needed," he said.
Kang said the government was mobilizing all available policy tools to ensure stable supply of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical products, items for which supply concerns have recently been raised in media reports. "We are prioritizing the supply of naphtha, plastic resin and other raw materials to manufacturers of IV fluids, packaging materials and syringes," he said. "We are also actively operating a hoarding-prevention reporting center and issuing administrative guidance to wholesalers to root out illegal activities that disrupt market order."
Regarding the 26 Korean-flagged vessels currently in the Strait of Hormuz, Kang said the government was developing measures to ensure safe passage through the strait, taking into account the positions of shipping companies and the framework for international cooperation, with the safety of crew members as the top priority. "I ask the public to trust the government's efforts and carry on with their daily lives as normal," he said.