South Korea’s Lee Declares "Wartime-Level" Crisis
Addressing the national assembly, Lee framed the situation as an "unexpected, multifaceted" emergency for South Korea, as the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran entered its fifth consecutive week, according to media.
The South Korean leader made no attempt to soften the gravity of his message: "Extraordinary measures are needed in times of emergency. The government recognizes the current situation as a wartime-level crisis for the people's economy and is mobilizing all available resources to overcome it."
Legislators are expected to vote on the supplementary budget bill by April 10.
The urgency behind Lee's appeal is rooted in a deepening energy emergency. Seoul has already activated a second-level national energy security alert following mounting disruptions to its crude oil imports. The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow Persian Gulf chokepoint through which a vast share of South Korea's energy supply flows — has been effectively closed since March 1, halting all tanker transits. The last vessel to arrive in South Korea from the strait docked on March 20, leaving the country without a Hormuz shipment for more than ten days. Lee separately instructed officials to begin drafting traffic control measures as part of a broader national energy conservation drive.
The financial exposure is staggering. In 2024, South Korea sourced approximately 55% of its total energy products from the Middle East, representing roughly $144 billion in imports — a dependency that has now become a critical national vulnerability.
The wider conflict igniting the crisis erupted on Feb. 28, when Israel and the United States launched a coordinated offensive against Iran. The campaign has since claimed more than 1,340 lives, among them then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran has responded with sustained drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states hosting U.S. military installations, inflicting casualties, damaging critical infrastructure, and sending shockwaves through global energy markets and international aviation networks.
The human cost for American forces has also mounted, with at least 13 U.S. servicemen killed and dozens more wounded in the ongoing hostilities.
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