South Korea won’t likely join the United States-led ban on Russian energy imports as it cannot easily find replacement for Russian crude and natural gas that each account for about 5 percent in Korean imports in the respective fuel sources.

Seoul has been moving in sync with economic and financial sanctions led by the U.S., but it cannot easily match ban on energy, a high-ranking government official who is involved in the sanction review told Maeil Business Newspaper.

The Biden administration has been mustering European allies for a ban on Russian oil imports as part of their sanctions against Moscow for Ukraine attack. While many European countries are reviewing the option, Germany, the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, has rejected to the move, citing difficulty in finding alternative oil import “overnight”. The U.S. is said to be considering a Russian oil import ban without European allies’ participation for now, according to foreign news media.

Korea is expected to opt the German choice as it too cannot find other options to make up for the shortage, added the official who asked for anonymity.

Russian crude oil makes up 5.6 percent and liquified natural gas 6.2 percent in Korea’s respective total imports. Korea imports crude oil mostly from Saudi Arabia making up 29.3 percent of its total oil imports, the U.S. 12.4 percent, and Kuwait 10.6 percent. But those countries cannot instantly ramp up output for extra supplies to Korea.

The foreign ministry upon announcing sanctioning measures against Russia on Feb. 28 said it will mull re-directing LNG exports to Europe to help ease the energy crisis in the region following Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Korea is expected to face pressure from the Western countries to join their energy sanction against Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on visit to Europe, announced Sunday (local time) that the U.S. and its European allies are exploring banning imports of Russian oil. Germany already has stopped importing Russian LNG.
Source: Pulse