SEOUL, April 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday expected the global energy crisis to continue for the time being amid the lasting Middle East tensions.
Lee said at a cabinet meeting that the Middle East peace talks last weekend failed to reach an agreement, stressing that while the talks could go on, it would not be easy to be optimistic, as tensions between both sides surrounding the Strait of Hormuz were escalating.
He emphasized that the government must firmly establish its emergency response system while taking it as a given that difficulties in global energy and raw material supply chains and high oil prices would persist for the time being.
The president said the development of alternative supply chains, long-term industrial structure reform and a plastic-free economy should be pursued as top-priority national core projects, instructing ministers to accelerate efforts to improve vulnerabilities in the economy and industrial structure that were exposed during the Middle East tensions. ■
