Officials from South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy spent 26 hours traveling to Saudi Arabia for resource diplomacy, even after Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport was shut down by escalating clashes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels and the Foreign Ministry urged South Koreans to leave the country. The officials were Yang Ki-wook, head of the ministry's Industrial Resources Security Office, and his working-level staff, who have been cutting back on sleep to pursue resource diplomacy since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war.
Trade Minister Kim Jung-kwan posted a message on his Facebook page on the 12th titled, "My thanks to colleagues working to secure energy under difficult conditions." The Foreign Ministry had issued a Level 3 travel alert, an evacuation advisory, for all of Saudi Arabia as of 10 p.m. on the 11th. The alert warns that risks in the area pose a serious threat to the lives and safety of South Korean nationals, calling on them to cancel travel plans and for those already in the country to leave without delay. The ministry acted after military clashes between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels intensified, with flames rising even at King Khalid airport in the Saudi capital. Foreign news reports said airstrikes at the airport had killed at least 12 people and wounded 309 as of that day.
According to Kim, Yang and two deputy directors in the resource security policy division, Kim Min-sup and Na Hyun-bin, headed to Riyadh despite the emergency. They had a trip scheduled to attend the International Energy Forum (IEF) ministerial meeting and the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) in Saudi Arabia. They could have canceled given conditions on the ground, but pressed ahead, citing the importance of strengthening energy cooperation amid the U.S.-Iran war. Business executives, including those from Samsung E&S and SNT Gulf, also decided to make the trip despite the risks.
Kim said the group reached Riyadh only after repeated legs by land and air. With direct flights to Riyadh canceled one after another, they flew into Bahrain via Hong Kong and Doha, Qatar. From Bahrain they crossed a causeway into Dammam, Saudi Arabia, then drove nearly five hours across the desert, a journey totaling 26 hours. "Conditions on the ground were far more difficult than expected," Kim said. "Deputy Director Na ultimately had to return home because there was not enough transportation."
Saudi officials expressed particular gratitude that the delegation attended the international events under such difficult circumstances. "Not only did we secure meetings with the Saudi vice minister for petroleum and gas and the senior vice president of Aramco, the state oil company, but we also reaffirmed their commitment to a stable supply of crude oil," Kim said. "We plan to discuss cooperation measures to prepare for possible supply disruptions."
"I said recently that the era when we could simply bring in resources as long as the price was right is over," Kim said. "To stably secure the energy our country needs, the government and companies must go to the field themselves, cooperate and build trust." He added, "I want to express my gratitude to our delegation and business leaders who are fulfilling their responsibilities and working together in their respective roles amid an unstable situation," and said, "For the rest of the schedule, I hope they put safety first and return home without incident."
