President Lee Jae-myung instructed officials to review securing alternative crude oil routes using Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Port in the Red Sea region.
At the Cabinet meeting combined with the 4th emergency economic review meeting held on the morning of the 6th, the president reviewed the possibility of importing crude oil via a detour through Yanbu Port. Yanbu Port is Saudi Arabia's crude oil export port on the Red Sea, located on the exact opposite side of the Strait of Hormuz.
As the Middle East war drags on, several countries are reviewing or pushing to send vessels to Yanbu Port to secure crude oil. However, in Korea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries issued an advisory to refrain from sailing to Yanbu Port on Mar. 1.
The president asked, "Since the outbreak of the war, have we not been importing crude oil from Yanbu Port?" Minister Hwang Jong-woo of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) replied, "We issued an advisory to refrain from sailing on Mar. 1."
The president then asked, "Iran is threatening to blockade the Red Sea through Yemen's Houthi rebels. From the perspective of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how feasible is actual execution?" Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "They lack the capability to (fully blockade) the Red Sea as with the Strait of Hormuz." Cho added, "The Houthis cannot completely blockade it, but they can threaten by launching random attacks."
The president also checked the location and capabilities of the destroyer Dae Joyeong of the Cheonghae Unit currently deployed. However, Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense said, "The Dae Joyeong's mission is to protect merchant ships and combat piracy," adding, "We need reinforcement measures."
The president said, "If we had conducted oil import operations through the Red Sea for a month, wouldn't a significant volume have come in?" and added, "If we completely block it on the grounds that there are not many detour routes and there is risk, it will seriously affect the supply of crude oil to the Republic of Korea, posing too great a threat to the state and the public."
He continued, "If we ban it because there is a little risk, how will we deal with domestic crude oil supply?" and said, "A situation is coming where we have no choice but to accept some risk. Coordinate and do it as safely as possible."
At the party-government consultation held on the morning of the same day, plans to import crude oil using Yanbu Port were also discussed. Ahn Do-geol, a lawmaker and secretary of the Democratic Party of Korea's "special committee on economic response to the Middle East situation," said, "We currently have delegations formed in three countries—Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Algeria," and explained, "We are pushing to deploy five national-flagged vessels to the Red Sea region, specifically Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Port."