Overview

• Finance Ministry acting head Lee Hyoung-il and National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac convened separate emergency sessions to assess fallout from U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
• With around 70 percent of its crude oil imported from the Middle East, South Korea faces heightened vulnerability to any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi forces in the Red Sea have already driven up shipping costs and strained export supply chains, industry analysts report.
• Officials are evaluating measures such as diversifying energy sources and increasing oil and gas imports from the U.S., Mexico and Brazil to bolster supply resilience.
• Seoul lawmakers warn that U.S. strikes on Iran could fuel speculation over similar preemptive action against North Korea’s nuclear sites, intensifying security tensions on the peninsula.