Kang Hoon-sik, the presidential chief of staff, made an unannounced visit on the 13th local time to Qatar, a key importer of LNG (liquefied natural gas). With instability in energy supply and demand growing due to the Middle East war, he was said to have discussed plans for energy and economic cooperation, including LNG.
According to local media and Cheong Wa Dae, Kang, who is visiting the Middle East as the special envoy for strategic economic cooperation of President Lee Jae-myung, met Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on the day and delivered a personal letter from President Lee.
Through the letter, President Lee expressed condolences to Qatar, which suffered an Iranian airstrike amid the Middle East war, conveyed his wish for an early conclusion of cease-fire talks while solidifying solidarity between the two countries. Kang exchanged views with Emir Tamim on the overall international situation, including the Middle East, and focused on strengthening bilateral ties and energy cooperation. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Qatar's minister of state, attended the meeting.
Since the 7th, Kang has been touring Central Asia and the Middle East to find ways to ease instability in energy supply and demand. Cheong Wa Dae had initially said that Kang planned to visit Kazakhstan, Oman and Saudi Arabia, but he made an unannounced stop in Qatar on the day.
Qatar supplies more than 15% of the LNG consumed in Korea and has signed a long-term contract for 6.1 million tons per year. Twenty percent of the world's LNG supply comes from Qatar.
Recently, Iranian airstrikes destroyed LNG production facilities, disrupting Qatar's LNG production and exports. QatarEnergy, Qatar's state-owned energy company, even announced that it would temporarily suspend fulfillment of long-term LNG supply contracts with Korea, Italy, Belgium and China. Amid growing concerns about instability in LNG supply and demand, Kang personally visited Qatar to conduct top-level negotiations.
A government official said, "Following crude oil and naphtha, concerns over supply instability are growing for LNG as well, and achieving direct top-level negotiations with Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG producers, is itself a significant outcome."