TOKYO and Seoul have agreed to strengthen cooperation on securing energy supplies, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said during a visit to South Korea on Tuesday, as both nations grapple with the fallout of the Middle East war.
Takaichi said she and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung outlined a framework to bolster energy stockpiles in the Asia Pacific and would work towards “enhancing energy security for both Japan and South Korea”.
“Given the current international situation, cooperation between Japan and South Korea on supply chains, including those for critical minerals, is important,” Takaichi told a joint news conference after meeting with Lee. Japan depends on the Middle East for about 95 per cent of its oil imports, while South Korea gets about 70 of its crude from the region. Iran’s effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on Tehran has rattled global energy markets.
The two leaders met in Lee’s hometown of Andong four months after Takaichi hosted Lee in her own hometown of Nara in January. — AFP