Sept. 23 (Asia Today) -- South Korea plans to reduce its dependence on any single region for crude oil to below 50% by 2035 while expanding reserves of critical minerals to as much as 365 days of supply.
The government said Wednesday that the measures are intended to strengthen the country's resilience against disruptions to global energy and mineral supply chains following instability caused by the Middle East war.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy approved four major policy measures during the sixth Resource Security Council meeting in Seoul: a national resource-security master plan, revisions to the fifth national petroleum stockpiling plan, a revised list of critical minerals and the country's first critical-mineral stockpiling plan.
The master plan is the government's first comprehensive mid- to long-term resource-security strategy since implementation of the Special Act on National Resource Security.
The government set a goal of developing "resource-security preparedness that remains resilient even during a crisis."
By 2035, it aims to reduce the share of crude oil imported from any single region to below 50%, successfully implement 10 strategic mineral projects and ...