Description: South Korea’s presidential chief of staff, Kang Hood – sik, upon returning from a week – long trip to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kazakhstan, stated that South Korea has secured more than 273 million barrels of crude oil and 2.1 million tons of naphtha from Middle Eastern and Kazakhstani producers. Kang also added that the oil would be enough to sustain normal operation in the country for up to three months according to last year’s energy estimations. The commodities would be delivered either through air or land routes which at some point would have to include maritime transshipping, avoiding the blocked Strait of Hormuz. The government in Seoul also imposed another measure to counterbalance the energy crisis by delaying the decommissioning of its coal – fired power plants.
Impact: The global energy crisis due to the Iran war starts to construct multilateral unconventional partnerships which could likely transpire towards strategic agreements in the long – term period. Asia in general has been one of the most affected regions by the global energy crisis due to its high reliance on Middle Eastern oil and gas, with South Korea being one of the first countries to impose drastic crisis absorption measures, such as importing Kazakhstani oil. South Korea’s move emphasizes the need for transition of nation – states towards alternative energy resources and likely further increases the attractiveness of central Asian countries as sources of energy due to their predictable and independent supply lines for energy resources.