South Korea's Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Tuesday that the government plans to lower the national oil resource security crisis alert level by one notch to Level 2, citing progress in peace talks between the United States and Iran and a stabilizing trend in global oil prices.
The remarks were made by First Vice Minister Moon Seung-wook during a cabinet meeting at the Blue House, who added that the natural gas alert would also be lifted entirely.
South Korea operates a four-tier national resource security crisis warning system, where the alert level is determined by the severity of a supply disruption and its impact on the national economy.
The South Korean government first issued the lowest-level oil alert in early March, subsequently raised it to Level 2 later that month, and ultimately elevated it to Level 3 in April.
The country has also maintained a Level 2 alert for natural gas since April.
Vice Minister Moon stated that South Korea is importing more crude oil via routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz while also securing supplies from regions outside the Middle East, including the United States.
Consequently, the government will also completely abolish the vehicle alternate-day driving restriction system, abandoning its previous plan to relax the odd-even license plate policy to a five-day rotation schedule.
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