Korea tightens car-use restrictions as gov't declares oil security ‘alert’

Home > Business > Industry

Korea tightens car-use restrictions as gov't declares oil security ‘alert’

Published: 01 Apr. 2026, 19:07

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A local fuel retailer in central Seoul that sells diesel and kerosene temporarily shuts down on April 1, citing skyrocketing wholesale prices that make retail sales financially unviable. [NEWS1]

Korea will elevate its resource security status for crude oil to “alert” starting 12 a.m. Thursday — the third-highest level in the country's four-tier system — as the war in the Middle East continues to strain global supply channels.

The level for natural gas will be raised to “caution,” the second tier, as instability mounts in energy markets, particularly for liquefied natural gas (LNG), following Qatar’s March 5 declaration of force majeure after an attack by Iran on its Ras Laffan LNG plant.

The elevation in crude oil alert status marks a three-tier jump in a month after the government first issued an “attention” advisory on March 5, right after the war outbreak, and raised it to “caution” on March 18 due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital maritime chokepoint through which around 25 percent of global seaborne oil transits daily.

Korea’s crude oil imports have come to a complete standstill since March 20, when the last tanker to have transited the Strait of Hormuz on March 1 finally docked at port.

In the case of natural gas, benchmark prices across East Asia have surged sharply, raising the prospect of higher electricity and heating costs.

Still, the government maintains that supply remains manageable through year’s end, having secured alternative volumes via spot purchases and overseas resource development.

Oh Il-young, director general for Climate and Energy Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, speaks about the tightened car restriction system during a press briefing on April 1 in Sejong Government Complex. [YONHAP]

To stabilize crude supply, the government will launch a coordinated outreach effort targeting countries with confirmed export capacity that does not rely on passage through the Strait of Hormuz, leveraging commercial attachés and the global Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency network.

Korea already decided to release 20 million barrels of Middle Eastern crude from strategic reserves to domestic refiners through swap arrangements, a stopgap measure they say will be sufficient to meet demand through the end of June.

“Aligned with the elevated crisis alert, the government will shift to a more robust, higher-level response framework,” Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said, urging citizens to actively participate in overcoming the current emergency.

Starting April 8, the Environment Ministry will tighten its vehicle-use restrictions for public-sector workers to a two-day rotation — known colloquially as an "odd-even system" — which bans vehicle use every other day based on license plate numbers.

This represents a step up from the five-day rotation implemented on March 25, which restricts cars from operating on a designated weekday each week.

Under the system, vehicles with license plates ending in odd numbers will be permitted on odd-numbered dates, while those ending in even numbers will be allowed on even-numbered days.

A customer fuels his car at a gas station in southern Seoul on April 1, when the oil prices rose to near 2,000 won per liter ($4.93 per gallon). [YONHAP]

The policy will apply to roughly 1.3 million cars in 11,000 entities, including central government ministries, public agencies, local governments and provincial education offices, as well as to public elementary, middle and high schools.

Still, the affected vehicles account for less than 7 percent of the total fleet, as authorities have opted to maintain voluntary participation for the private sector.

The five-day rotation system will also be introduced at roughly 30,000 paid on-street and off-street parking lots run by local governments and other public institutions.

The government explained that the heightened system could reduce oil consumption by up to 87,000 barrels per month. Including restrictions at public parking lots, monthly savings could reach as much as 114,000 barrels.

“Regulations for the private sector remain voluntary for now, but should the resource security alert be elevated to ‘serious,’ we will then consider implementing mandatory measures,” said Oh Il-young, director-general for the Climate and Energy Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Naphtha, already under strain from disruptions to crude imports, has been placed under an export ban, with refiners ordered to sell their entire capacity to local firms.

The government has also incorporated into its supplementary budget a plan to subsidize the price differential arising from alternative imports, amounting to 469.5 billion won ($311 million).

The Ministry of Environment is also considering imposing per-person purchase limits on waste-disposal bags, following reports of panic buying due to supply disruptions linked to naphtha shortages.

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]