Son Ju-seok, president of Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) (third from left), visits the Ulsan oil stockpiling base and inspects readiness to release reserves in case of a supply crisis. /Courtesy of Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC)

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said on the 30th, "Recently, some on YouTube and online social media have raised the possibility that 900,000 Barrel of oil stored at the Ulsan stockpiling base flowed into North Korea, but that is not true." It added, "As this is an act of damaging the government's credibility and confusing the public with fake news, the government will respond strictly and firmly by using all available measures."

In fact, on YouTube and elsewhere, content has been posted raising suspicions to the effect that "there is a possibility that 900,000 Barrel of crude oil stored in Korea flowed into North Korea." There is also content raising suspicions to the effect that "after crude oil leaked to China, it may have been delivered to North Korea through a pipeline."

YouTube content of this kind appears to have emerged after reports on the 20th said that "900,000 Barrel of crude oil owned by a foreign corporations, stored at a domestic oil stockpiling base, was sold overseas and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources began an audit of the Korea National Oil Corporation." The reports were based on reference materials released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI).

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), a foreign corporations, A Oil, under a contract to supply 2,000,000 Barrel to S Refinery in Korea, brought the volume into the Ulsan oil stockpiling base early this month. However, with oil prices surging due to the Middle East war, A entered into a contract to transfer the entire volume to a country offering a higher price. After belatedly identifying this, the Korea National Oil Corporation arranged to receive 1,100,000 Barrel domestically but could not block the overseas sale of the remaining 900,000 Barrel.

Regarding this, an official at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said, "We have confirmed that the 900,000 Barrel sold overseas was sold to a country other than North Korea," adding, "The country that purchased the 900,000 Barrel sought to meet its own demand."

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