The government convened an emergency meeting on Sunday to keep a close eye on developments unfolding in Iraq amid worries that deepening instability in the oil-rich country could negatively affect Korean companies and the overall Korean economy.
The meeting, held in Seoul, was attended by Yoon Sang-jick, minister of trade, industry and energy, along with a dozen officials from state-run energy companies and other private-sector firms doing business in Iraq.
The meeting came amid concerns of civil war in Iraq as major cities have fallen into the hands of Arab militants.
During the meeting, participants discussed the current status of resources development projects and other initiatives underway there.
They determined that things currently remain in good shape with little being disrupted, informed sources said.
“Our monitoring shows that most of the resources development and plant businesses are underway normally,” a trade and energy ministry official said. “If things get worse, we will activate contingency plans.”
The government also said that it has seen little disruption in energy supply as main oil fields and seaports are located in the relatively safe southern region of the country. It added that it did not receive any reports from private-sector companies on losses. (Yonhap)
