Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea

This article is by Lee Jian. and read by an artificial voice.

At 34 years old, Song Ji-hee is a ballerina — something she once thought she could never become.

These days, she pulls on a leotard and tights, ties the ribbons on her toe shoes and heads to the studio for ballet lessons alongside fellow adult amateurs.

"I had friends who majored in ballet from a young age. Back then, teachers would select only the most promising children for separate training, so even as a child I felt that there were certain qualifications you had to meet to do ballet," she told the Korea JoongAng Daily via email.

In college, Song discovered that her best friend had begun taking ballet classes as a hobby. But what ultimately pushed her to start was her fascination with what she calls "athletic art."

"Whenever I imagined ballet, I thought of that light, graceful, beautiful image — and that made me want to learn it even more."

Song is one of a growing number of adults in Korea taking up ballet later in life, reshaping perceptions of the art form as something reserved only for the young or professionally trained. Its surge in popularity — particularly visible on social media — has spilled into fashion trends and brand collaborations, cementing ballet as the latest lifestyle obsession. Whether this boom is translating into larger theater audiences for full-length ballet performances, however, remains an open question.

Among the influx of social media posts — 456,000 are hashtagged "hobby ballet" in Korean. Ballet Mate Festival, an annual gala for adult amateur ballerinas and ballerinos, has also seen its participant numbers rise steadily from 268 in 2023 to 321 in 2024. Last year, it recorded an all-time high of 390 participants, since the program was founded in 2017.

Those in their 20s and 30s accounted for more than half of participants, followed by those in their 40s and 50s, at around 39 percent.

Jeon Joon-young of the Performance Planning Team at Wise Ballet Company, the festival's organizer, said that when the first Ballet Mate Festival launched, the words "hobby" and "ballet" were "hardly considered compatible."

"It was difficult to find people who practiced ballet as a hobby because ballet was regarded as the exclusive domain of professionals, and for the general public, it was something to be watched only as spectators," he stated via email.

"At the time, Kim Gil-yong, current director of Wise Ballet Company, anticipated that Korea would eventually follow Europe, the United States and Japan, where hobby ballet was already steadily growing. With the vision of pioneering a new market and bringing aspiring amateur dancers to the forefront, he founded the Ballet Mate Festival under the slogan 'A Festival for Hobby Ballet Dancers' — the first of its kind in Korea."

His prediction appears to have been accurate. Today, hobby ballet classes are easy to find across the country, with even celebrities publicly embracing the art form.

"I can't really say I'm doing ballet. It feels more like going to a ballet studio to stretch. It's basically a hobby," K-pop star-turned-actor Suzy said in a YouTube interview in December last year. "Someone recommended it to me as a form of exercise, and I found it fun. The clothes are pretty and suit me well. I enjoyed it more than regular fitness workouts, and because there's music, it feels relaxing."

For some, cost is also part of the appeal. Office worker Noh Yoon-seo, 28, said ballet classes can be more affordable than comparable yoga or Pilates sessions.

"My ballet class costs about three-quarters of what I used to pay for Pilates," she said. She has been taking hobby ballet lessons since October last year.

For Song, however, the appeal runs deeper than trend or convenience.

"The more I learn ballet, the more I realize this isn't just exercise — it's art," she said. "I understand why ballet isn't in the Olympics. It's an artistic act: creating the most beautiful lines with your body in harmony with music, alig...

This article is by Kim Ji-ye and read by an artificial voice.

Recognizing the growing global influence of Korean content, TikTok will invest more than $50 million in Korea's content ecosystem, the company announced Thursday.

"We believe that Korean creators' originality will become a much more powerful asset than ever before," said Jung Jae-hoon, head of operations at TikTok Korea, during a press conference, dubbed "K-Impact Summit 2026," held in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Thursday.

"Through this investment, more Korean content will be able to inspire global creativity and deliver joy, helping TikTok advance its mission of bringing creativity and happiness to audiences around the world."

Citing the global success of acts such as boy band BTS, Rosé of Blackpink's song "APT." (2024), director Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite" (2019) and Netflix's sensational hit "KPop Demon Hunters" (2025), the company emphasized that Korean culture is rapidly becoming a part of the global mainstream.

"Korea is no longer a country that follows cultural trends," Jung said. "Korean context and sensibility have confidently become a global mainstream appeal."

He added, "K-content is no longer just an export product. It has become a source of inspiration that audiences around the world enjoy, reinterpret and recreate."

TikTok noted that content consumption has shifted dramatically, from passive viewing to active discovery, engagement and sharing, with users now playing a central role in shaping cultural trends.

In such an environment, the company sees Korea as one of the most attractive markets in this landscape, citing its strong content infrastructure, fast-adapting Korean creators and powerful fandom community.

To boost the global reach of K-content, TikTok will focus on fostering two key groups through the investment: creators, referred to as "Wave Makers" who drive cultural trends, and professional content partners, called "Amplifiers."

As part of its initiative, it introduced four programs on Thursday aimed at strengthening its Korean creator ecosystem, including reward programs.

"There are still so many hidden gems waiting to be discovered in Korea," Jung said, referring to untapped K-content creators.

Launched on Wednesday, the Creator Rewards Program: 2X offers double reward payouts exclusively for Korean-language content — the highest incentive rate in TikTok's global rewards programs, according to the company.

TikTok added that accounts must be created in Korea to be eligible, meaning creators using Korean language content from accounts created overseas will not qualify.

Others include the Specialized Rewards Program, which will offer three times the standard payout for content in select categories — film, TV and sports. To attract and foster creators, TikTok will launch the Creator Growth Challenge and the Creator Incubator Program on May 1.

When the programs will end has yet to be decided, according to Ko, and will be determined based on the creators' and users' responses.

The company also plans to invest in expanding collaborations with professional content partners across sports, news and entertainment.

In sports, TikTok announced that it is preparing with FIFA to release content during the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in North America this year. It will also continue its partnership with the K League and the KBO, while expanding collaboration with a broader range of sports leagues and associations.

This article is by Jin Eun-soo and read by an artificial voice.

[INTERVIEW]

Yu Ji-suk, art director of the National Gugak Center's folk orchestra and certified instructor of seodo sori (a genre of Korean folk song that originated from the northwestern provinces), has recently added an unusual entry to her illustrious career: performing "Arirang" in front of Gwanghwamun for K-pop megaband BTS's comeback performance.

"It was quite a tough project, but whether it was big or small, my team and I were able to play a role in performing 'Arirang' to the global audience, and it will be remembered as a happy memory," the 63-year-old director said in a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily.

" Gugak [Korean traditional music] is such a highly specialized and niche music genre, but the fact that it was able to be played at the symbolic Gwanghwamun Square means something."

Yu and her team, comprising four vocalists and eight instrumentalists, performed about a minute of "Arirang" on March 21 before some 22,000 ticket holders gathered to celebrate BTS's comeback after nearly four years. Geomungo player Lee Jae-ha, a member of the folk orchestra, participated in remixing the "Arirang" music for the performance as well.

"We rehearsed walking out of [Gyeongbok Palace] when rehearsing at Kintex [an exhibition hall in Goyang], but when we actually did it, the organizer ought to have thought that it didn't deliver as well as expected. Since it was going to be livestreamed, there needed to be no accident whatsoever, so we changed at the last minute to performing standing still," she said.

Toward the end of "Body to Body," which opened the Gwanghwamun performance, the melody of "Arirang" overlapped with the song's predominant hip-hop rhythm before taking over for about 30 seconds, which was the part responsible for by Yu's team. When the part starts, the camera, which had been focused on BTS on a special stage at Gwanghwamun Square, moves back to the woldae [elevated stone walkway] area in front of Gwanghwamun, where Yu and her team were standing by.

"If reviving gugak and Korean tradition is one of their motifs after all, then performing 'Arirang' on stage with a master singer of Korea's folk songs — even if it's not me — would be meaningful."

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. You are a master of seodo sori, songs that have roots in Hwanghae and Pyeongan Provinces, known for their sorrowful yet bold sounds. What was it like for you to record "Arirang"?

A. When I first received the demo for the part that I was going to sing, the notes were slightly different compared to the "Arirang" that I knew. It was a bit more rhythmic. It felt unfamiliar, but at the same time quite interesting. They suggested recording it instead of performing it live on site. I thought, "Oh, that would make the job much easier." I sang the first verse and sang together with my team for the second verse. The music director told me that my vocals were more sorrowful compared to others, probably because that's the sentiment of seodo sori. I wanted to record a bit more, but they said they could fine-tune it. When I heard the final version, they had refined it, of course, especially the high pitch. "Arirang" has a very high note, so it's quite hard to make it sound solid and full-bodied. I got the feeling that they made it sound brighter and more upbeat.

The team's wardrobe is not what's usually worn for a Korean traditional music performance. What was the intention?

We're used to wearing hanbok (Korean traditional clothes) and putting on a low bun, but the outfits presented for the Gwanghwamun concert were quite modern. We thought it didn't match, so we asked for a few fixes, such as taking in the waist of the skirt. Our male performers' outfits were mostly shades of blue, while the females' were red. At first, male performers were also considering wearing gat (a Korean traditional hat for males). They explained that the overall co...

This article is by Kim Kyung-hee and read by an artificial voice.

Thirties are the new 20s, at least for working women, with the employment rate for women aged 30 to 34 exceeding that of 25-to-29-year-olds for the first time since 1995 last year, effectively eliminating the "M-shaped curve" phenomenon, where the employment rate of women in their 30s typically declines due to career interruptions caused by childbirth and child care.

The shift in the trend was found through an analysis of data from the Korean Statistical Information Service (Kosis) by the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday.

The employment rate for women aged 30 to 34 reached 75.1 percent last year. This exceeded the employment rate of women aged 25 to 29, which stood at 73.6 percent. Employment rate data has been tracked since 1980.

This was the first reversal since the employment rate for women aged 25 to 34 first exceeded 50 percent in 1997.

In terms of labor force participation — which for this data set includes both the employed and unemployed not actively seeking work — women in their early 30s recorded 77.4 percent, slightly below the 77.8 percent for women in their late 20s.

The gap between the two groups has nearly closed. The previous pattern, in which the employment of women in their 30s dropped due to childbirth and child care to create an "M-curve" trend on a line graph, has essentially flattened, and is even trending toward an inverted "U-curve."

"The flattening of the M-shaped curve is primarily the result of delaying or opting out of marriage and childbirth to avoid career interruption," said Min Se-jin, a professor of economics at Dongguk University. "Women born between 1985 and 1996 — often called the 'M generation' — prioritize careers and tend to push marriage to a later stage."

Lower birthrates and difficulty finding jobs at younger ages are also contributing factors. Women in their 30s — many of whom experienced rising housing prices and slow economic growth after 2015 — are increasingly prioritizing financial stability and delaying or forgoing marriage and childbirth.

Although the total fertility rate has rebounded for two consecutive years, it remained in the 0.8 range as of last year, while the share of unmarried women aged 30 to 34 reached 58 percent.

The average age of childbirth rose from 30.2 in 2005 to 33.8 last year, with women aged 35 and older accounting for 37.3 percent of all births last year.

The labor force participation rate for women born between 1988 and 1992 — who were 30 to 34 in 2022 — stood at 75 percent, up 8.8 percentage points from 66.2 percent for women born between 1983 and 1987, according to the analysis of Kosis data.

The share of women with children, meanwhile, fell from 46.9 percent to 32.3 percent.

Government policies supporting work-life balance, such as expanded paternity leave and child care support, also appear to have had an effect. Men accounted for 36.4 percent of all parental leave users last year, according to employment statistics.

The number of working mothers has also increased. Data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics shows that as of April last year, the employment rate for married women under the age of 54 living with children under 18 reached 64.3 percent.

The share of married women who experienced career interruptions fell to 14.9 percent.

Although the number of births began to rebound in the second half of 2024, experts caution against optimism, noting that the increase is the result of more women entering their early 30s, the prime childbearing age, rather than a structural change.

In fact, the number of women aged 30 to 34 is expected to decline from 1.67 million this year to 1.23 million in a decade, according to population projections from the Data Ministry, and slide by more than 30 percent in 20 years compared to now.

Despite this, the vice chair position of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy has remained vacant for three months since December of last...

This article is by Lim Sun-young, Choi Hyun-ju, Noh Yu-rim and read by an artificial voice.

In the kitchen of Nuwa, a Chinese restaurant in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on March 20, chef Park Eun-yeong, known as the "goddess of Chinese food," was cooking with Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce.

Park has used the sauce that changed the course of her culinary career for years.

As a college student in 2011, she won a Lee Kum Kee cooking competition with a pork dish made with the sauce, and the prize — a trip to Hong Kong — opened her eyes to the world of gastronomy.

Lee Kum Kee, the 138-year-old global sauce brand based in Hong Kong, exports more than 300 kinds of sauces and condiments to over 100 regions. Since 2007, it has held an annual cooking competition to discover chefs from around the world and spread its products across global markets.

Along the same lines, Korean sauces are drawing attention in the restaurant and food industries as a practical answer for the future of K-food. For K-food to secure a place on tables around the world, experts say a strategy that allows it to blend naturally into local food cultures is needed.

Sauces have an advantage because they can be easily applied to local dishes, lowering the barrier to cooking and making it easier to expand into a wide range of recipes.

Overseas, Korean sauces are already spreading rapidly. Exports of Korean sauces reached $410 million in 2025, up 4.6 percent from 2024, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The product lineup is also growing more diverse, ranging from traditional condiments such as gochujang (chili paste) and doenjang (bean paste) to meat marinades, tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) sauce and chicken sauce.

Food companies are also stepping up their push into overseas markets. Dongwon Home Food's low-sugar, low-calorie sauce brand Vivid Kitchen now exports 37 products, including kimchi salsa and gochujang hot sauce, to multiple regions including the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Vietnam. As of early this year, sales on Amazon in the United States have surged more than 600 percent from a year ago.

Overseas sales in the sauce business at Samyang Foods, which exports products including Buldak Sauce to around 50 regions, also rose four and a half times, from 8.4 billion won ($5.6 million) in 2021 to 38 billion won last year. CJ CheilJedang is also seeing an average annual growth of 12 percent in overseas sauce sales.

These companies are expanding beyond the consumer market into the business-to-business market, supplying sauces to restaurants and other food service operators.

"Sauces can improve the current structure of K-food exports, which remains concentrated in a few categories such as ramyeon and snacks, and they can become a new growth engine," said a source in the food industry. But industry voices say more active government support for exports is required to make that happen.

For K-food to become an everyday staple around the world, the number of chefs who can cook Korean food locally and help spread it also needs to grow. Critics say, however, that the educational foundation for systematically training Korean cuisine talent remains insufficient.

Of the roughly 100 culinary departments at two- and four-year colleges in Korea, fewer than 10 schools have Korean cuisine departments or similar programs dedicated to training Korean food specialists. Among them, only a handful offer K-food classes in English for foreign students. The D-4-5 visa for Korean cuisine training also acts as a further barrier to entry.

Experts agree that broader institutional support is needed.

"To actively train foreign K-food chefs, the government needs to provide universities with a standardized Korean cuisine curriculum and expand English-language courses," said Kim Hye-young, chair of the Korean culinary arts and food science program at Woosong University.

Other countries already have culinary education institutions established a...

Kim Sung-jae

The author is a business administration professor at Furman University and author of "The Story of Tariffs" (2025).

On Oct. 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel to reclaim the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights lost in the 1967 war. The conflict, which erupted on Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day, quickly took an unexpected turn.

Israel, accustomed to swift victories in earlier wars, had underestimated the risk of conflict. Egypt's President Anwar Sadat, by contrast, reformed a military long weakened by corruption and inefficiency, while strengthening it with Soviet support.

In the early stages, Egyptian forces seized the initiative by crossing the Suez Canal. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir requested assistance, prompting the United States to provide military support. Once Israel regained air superiority, the tide turned.

As Israeli counterattacks pushed Egyptian forces toward encirclement, a ceasefire was reached on Oct. 25 through United Nations mediation. The aftermath proved more consequential. Six days before the ceasefire, U.S. President Richard Nixon asked Congress to expand military aid to Israel, triggering backlash from Arab oil producers. Led by Saudi Arabia, nine nations imposed an oil embargo on the United States and its allies. Over five months, ending March 18 the following year, global oil prices quadrupled.

The surge in oil prices delivered a severe supply shock. Inflation surged into double digits while growth slowed, ushering in stagflation. Countries responded by implementing energy-saving measures and establishing strategic petroleum reserves.

Today, the global economy again faces stagflation risk following a war that began in late February with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. While hopes for an early end remain, oil supply conditions continue to worsen.

The scale is different. The 1973 embargo cut about 4.5 million barrels per day. In contrast, disruptions linked to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz have reduced supply by roughly 20 million barrels per day. Flows of natural gas and fertilizer feedstocks have also declined sharply.

The differences go beyond volume. In the 1970s, Iran did not join the embargo and helped buffer supply. Diplomatic efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger helped persuade Saudi Arabia to lift the embargo early, allowing supplies to recover.

Now, there is little certainty over when the Strait of Hormuz will reopen. Even if passage resumes, restoring supply will take time. Diplomatic options also appear limited.

Ultimately, the issue is not just higher oil prices but the persistence and spread of the shock. The lesson of the 1970s is clear: Supply disruptions often begin underestimated, but their costs exceed expectations.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

John Everad

The author is the former British ambassador to North Korea.

I took a particular interest in the visit to North Korea by Aleksandr Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, on March 25 and 26, as I have served as an ambassador to both countries. Two questions arise from the visit.

First is the purpose of Lukashenko's trip. The friendship treaty signed by the two leaders has not been released, though it reportedly covers areas such as agriculture, health care and science. Both sides described it as the start of a new relationship, but its substance is likely to remain limited. Both countries face economic constraints and are not natural trade partners. The new Belarusian Embassy in Pyongyang that Lukashenko announced is likely to be largely symbolic.

The timing of the visit is also questionable. Although North Korean leader Kim Jong-un invited Lukashenko in September of last year, the arrangements appeared rushed. The welcoming crowds were small, Belarusian flags were scarce, and the official performance took place in a modest venue. Even allowing for differences from the reception given to Russian President Vladimir Putin in June 2024, such details are unusual for a country as attentive to protocol as North Korea.

Lukashenko's visit can be understood in the context of changing relations between Belarus and the United States. He has recently shown interest in improving ties with the West. Engagement with envoys from President Donald Trump has led to the release of hundreds of political prisoners, including opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya's husband. A visit to Minsk by U.S. envoy John Coale on March 19 further raised expectations of a possible summit with Trump.

Belarus could gain significantly from such a deal, including sanctions relief, expanded trade and investment. Lukashenko, who sees himself as a mediator, may be seeking to demonstrate his usefulness by facilitating communication between Washington and Pyongyang.

The war in Iran is another factor. Trump is under pressure to shift attention away from the conflict, particularly with midterm elections approaching. Lukashenko may believe that arranging talks between Trump and Kim would strengthen his position in negotiations with Washington. The rushed nature of the Pyongyang visit and references by Belarusian officials to relations with major powers suggest this possibility.

Kim, for his part, may also see value in renewed dialogue. North Korea faces potential fuel shortages as disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz affect energy flows. Reports that Pyongyang has asked Russia to increase oil shipments support this concern. Engagement with the United States could offer economic benefits, and Kim may calculate that Trump's political urgency gives him leverage.

For both Kim and Trump, Lukashenko offers a useful intermediary, reducing the risks of direct engagement. However, such mediation carries significant risks. Lukashenko may raise expectations unrealistically, increasing the chance of failure similar to the collapse of the Hanoi summit in 2019. A second failure would damage North Korea-U.S. relations.

A more serious concern is the potential marginalization of South Korea. Trump may prioritize a visible diplomatic success over long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula. Kim could exploit this by excluding denuclearization and sidelining Seoul while seeking concessions such as recognition of North Korea and economic support. The United States may accept such terms and shift the burden onto South Korea.

An early summit driven by Lukashenko's initiative could therefore destabilize the Korean Peninsula. What appears to be a diplomatic opportunity may, in reality, carry substantial risk.

The author is the head of the editorial board at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Two long-standing taboos in Middle East conflict appear to have been broken in the Iran war. The first is that the United States and Israel do not fight together. Historically, that pattern held. During the four Arab-Israeli wars, Washington supported Israel indirectly but avoided direct involvement. Conversely, Israel did not join U.S.-led wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. This division of roles reflected not only strategic coordination but also a broader effort to prevent escalation across the region. That understanding began to erode during last year's short conflict and has now been decisively broken in the current war.

President Donald Trump may have calculated his own interests, but prevailing assessments suggest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played a key role in encouraging confrontation. Trump, emboldened by what he viewed as a success in Venezuela, appeared ready to extend his approach to the Middle East. The dynamic resembled a classic stratagem of driving one force to attack another. Yet such tactics do not always unfold as intended. The actor that unleashes force may lose control of it, or see gains slip away to others. In some cases, the force that is mobilized becomes exhausted first or fails to deliver the expected outcome.

A second broken taboo is the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. For years, Iran treated the option as a deterrent rather than an action. This time, it moved closer to implementation. Even without confirmed deployment of naval mines, shipping has been disrupted and global markets have reacted as if the threat were real. The effectiveness of the move may have surprised even Tehran. Having tested its leverage, Iran may now treat the strait as a durable and reusable instrument of pressure.

Trump's apparent exit strategy suggests that the United States will step back from the Hormuz issue and expect others to secure their own access to energy supplies. Yet it is unlikely that Iran will relinquish control without extracting concessions. Reports indicate that transit fees of about $2 million per tanker are under consideration. If such measures take hold, Iran's geopolitical position could strengthen despite the damage it has suffered, producing an outcome contrary to Washington's intentions and calculations.

The outcome of war has long been explained through timing, terrain and human factors. It is unclear which of these Trump secured before entering the conflict. In modern terms, timing reflects alignment with broader international conditions and political momentum. Trump may have believed that circumstances favored decisive action, but that judgment is now open to question. More critical miscalculations appear in terrain and human factors. As the Financial Times noted, Trump has shown a tendency to hand strategic advantages to his opponent. By prompting Iran to leverage Hormuz, he effectively ceded a key geographic advantage.

The human dimension has also proven resistant. Trump suggested that removing Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, could reignite domestic unrest and lead to systemic change. Instead, developments have moved in the opposite direction. Leaders killed by external forces risk becoming symbols of resistance, while successors emerge within a resilient political and ideological system. The assumption that internal opposition would quickly translate into regime change appears misplaced and overly optimistic.

Historical analogies underscore the risk. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (14th century), a strategy intended to provoke conflict ultimately weakened the initiator and exposed new vulnerabilities. Trump, too, appears to have incurred losses. Politically, the war complicates prospects ahead of midterm elections. Personally, it diminishes the plausibility of ambitions such as a Nobel Peace Prize. Internationally, it has strained perceptions of U.S. leadership and credibility among allies and...

Hopes are rising for an end to the Iran war, which was triggered by U.S. and Israeli strikes in February. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, "All I have to do is leave Iran. We will leave soon," and indicated that military operations could cease in two to three weeks. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has also signaled an openness to ending the conflict, provided that conditions are met to prevent further aggression.

With both sides publicly expressing such an intent despite their differences over cease-fire terms, expectations of the war ending have grown. Korea's stock market, which had fallen sharply after the outbreak of the crisis, rebounded more than 8 percent on Wednesday, reflecting this renewed optimism.

Still, it is too early to assume the conflict will end soon. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the United States will "negotiate with bombs" and deployed the 82nd Airborne Division, Marine forces and B-52 strategic bombers to sustain pressure on Iran. Iran's resistance also remains firm.

However, while significant obstacles to a settlement remain, Trump's plan to deliver a national address and his earlier remark about receiving a "gift from Iran" have raised expectations that negotiations may be advancing, even if the details remain unclear.

The greater concern lies in how Korea should respond to the shifting global order. The Trump administration has indicated that countries should manage passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked due to the war, on their own, and Iran has reportedly imposed transit fees of $2 million per oil tanker. For Korea, which depends heavily on Middle Eastern energy imports, the burden is unlikely to ease even after the conflict ends. Damage to oil and liquefied natural gas facilities has further heightened supply risks and exposed structural vulnerabilities.

The government should therefore reassess its energy response measures and maintain an emergency posture by diversifying supply sources. It should also replenish U.S. Forces Korea assets that may have been redeployed during the crisis while strengthening the alliance with the United States and sustaining regional security cooperation in Northeast Asia. Effective diplomacy requires securing national interests at such sensitive and uncertain moments.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

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.

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.

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 b...