Concrete mixer trucks are on standby in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. (Yoon Chang-bin/The Korea Herald)
Concrete mixer trucks are on standby in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. (Yoon Chang-bin/The Korea Herald)

South Korea will send special envoys to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Algeria as the country seeks alternative oil transport routes, according to a ruling party lawmaker on Monday.

Calling securing alternative routes a "top priority" for South Korea, Rep. Ahn Do-geol of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea told reporters Monday the government will "pull out all the stops for diplomatic efforts by sending special envoys to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Algeria."

"The government is tasked with coordinating with major countries with alternative oil transport routes and keeping the volume of our energy imports intact," he added, after a closed-door meeting over the Middle East crisis attended by Democratic Party lawmakers and government officials.

Reps. Yoo Dong-soo (left) and Ahn Do-geol (second from left) are seen during a meeting of Democratic Party lawmakers and the vice ministerial government officials at the National Assembly on Monday. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)
Reps. Yoo Dong-soo (left) and Ahn Do-geol (second from left) are seen during a meeting of Democratic Party lawmakers and the vice ministerial government officials at the National Assembly on Monday. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)

This follows the Industry Ministry's announcement on Thursday that South Korea was consulting with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kazakhstan to import oil, and with Algeria and Greece to import naphtha.

Before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict, about 70 percent of South Korea's crude oil imports were shipped via the Strait of Hormuz, and over 50 percent of naphtha came through the strait now blocked by Iran.


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