Chief of the Office of the President Kang Hoon-sik is presiding over a meeting of senior secretaries at Yeomin Hall in the Blue House on the 3rd. Courtesy of the Blue House

On the 6th, Chief of the Office of the President Kang Hoon-sik said, regarding the situation in which crude oil shipping lanes have been blocked due to Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz, that “the emergency import of more than a total of 6 million barrels of crude oil from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) has been confirmed.”

At a briefing held that day at the Chunchugwan press center in the Blue House, Chief Kang said, “In accordance with the instructions of President Lee Jae Myung, I discussed options for importing crude oil with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority,” and made the above statement.

Chief Kang stated, “First, we plan to have two South Korean-flagged oil tankers, each with a capacity of 2 million barrels, immediately dock at alternative ports within the UAE that do not require passage through the Strait of Hormuz, fill them with approximately 4 million barrels of crude oil that the UAE state-owned oil company is storing in the port, and have them return as quickly as possible.”