South Korea to enforce 5-day vehicle rotation system as Mideast conflict hits energy supplies

ISTANBUL

South Korea will strictly enforce a mandatory five-day vehicle rotation system for the public sector to respond to possible oil supply disruption amid continued hostilities in the Middle East, local media reported on Tuesday.

Starting Wednesday, the move is part of the government's energy-saving measures to mitigate the impact of global energy shortages, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported, citing the Climate Ministry.

The government will strengthen monitoring of the public sector's compliance with the license plate-based rationing system, under which cars are divided into five groups based on the last digit of their license plate numbers, and each group is prohibited from driving on a designated weekday.

Electric and hydrogen vehicles are exempt from such restrictions.

The system has been in place but was previously run loosely.

Some 1.5 million vehicles will be subject to the stricter rules, with the measure expected to help the country save about 3,000 barrels of crude oil every day.

South Korea's daily crude oil consumption stands at around 2.8 million barrels, with about half of the volume used for transportation.

The government will also ease restrictions on coal-fired power generation on days with low fine dust levels, in addition to pushing for five nuclear reactors currently under maintenance to swiftly resume operation as part of efforts to reduce consumption of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is also affected by the Mideast conflict.

Separately, in a phone call, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Tuesday asked his Omani counterpart Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi to help Seoul with liquefied natural gas and crude oil procurement.

The call between the two came a day after Cho urged his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

The regional escalation in the Middle East has continued since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, so far killing over 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with repeated drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.

The Strait of Hormuz has also been effectively throttled since early March. Normally around 20 million barrels of oil pass through it daily, and its disruption has driven up shipping costs and pushed global oil prices higher.