South Korean president Lee Jae Myung has said the rising tensions around the Strait of Hormuz make it difficult to feel optimistic about the wider fallout from the Iran war, warning that high oil prices and supply-chain pressures are likely to continue for some time.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lee said the government should assume that disruption in global energy and raw materials markets will last and strengthen its emergency response system.
He said: “For the time being, difficulties in global energy and raw materials supply chains and high oil prices will continue … I ask that we pursue the development of alternative supply chains, medium- to long-term industrial restructuring, and the transition to a post-plastic economy as top-priority national strategic projects.”
The remarks come as the strategic waterway remains a flashpoint in the widening crisis. According to the live developments, US-sanctioned ships have continued to pass through the Strait of Hormuz even as the Trump administration has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports after a deadline passed.
Diplomatic efforts are also continuing. Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer are due to co-host a summit in Paris on Friday, with France and the UK chairing talks aimed at addressing the growing regional instability.
Elsewhere in the region, attention has also turned to Lebanon and Israel. The live report notes that the two countries have been at war in some form since the early 1980s and do not have diplomatic relations. Lebanese authorities also bar entry to anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport.
That is why direct talks between the two governments are being described as highly unusual. As the source notes, the fact that such discussions are taking place is “really astonishing,” reflecting the severity of the current crisis and the pressure it is placing on long-standing regional divisions.
The situation around the Strait of Hormuz remains especially sensitive because of its importance to global energy flows. Any sustained disruption there risks feeding through into energy markets far beyond the Middle East, with consequences already being felt in shipping, supply chains and industrial planning.
Lee’s warning underscores those broader risks. His government is treating prolonged instability in the oil and raw materials markets as a scenario that may need to be managed over a longer period, rather than a short-term shock. That approach includes preparing alternative supply chains and pursuing structural changes in industry.
The combination of military pressure, sanctions, shipping disruptions and diplomatic efforts has created a fast-moving crisis with global implications. With the Paris summit due on Friday, governments are under pressure to show they can contain the fallout before it spreads further through energy markets and regional security.
For now, the latest developments suggest the crisis is deepening on multiple fronts at once: at sea, in diplomacy, and in the economic outlook of countries far from the immediate conflict zone.
