"South Korea Is the Top Priority" for UAE Crude Supply, and Japanese Media Say It Is All Thanks to the Cheongung System

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[Financial News] With the Strait of Hormuz effectively blocked and countries around the world scrambling to secure oil supplies, Japanese media have described the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s decision to provide South Korea with 24 million barrels of crude oil as an "exceptional preferential measure."
On the 20th, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that "in addition to the military cooperation to date, South Korea's supply of a missile defense system appears to have been the decisive factor." The paper suggested that the performance of the Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile system, which South Korea has been supplying to the UAE, is believed to be behind the preferential crude supply.
The UAE recently operated the Cheongung-II medium-range surface-to-air missile system alongside other air-defense weapons when the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) attacked neighboring countries, reportedly achieving a high interception success rate. In this context, the UAE is said to have requested early delivery of additional Cheongung-II interceptor missiles.
Earlier, Kang Hoon-sik, Chief of Staff to the President of the Republic of Korea, announced a plan to urgently import 18 million barrels of crude oil from the UAE during a briefing on the 18th, after returning from a visit to the UAE as Lee Jae Myung's Presidential Special Envoy for Strategic Economic Cooperation.
Kang stated, "(The UAE side) clearly promised that 'there will be no country that receives crude oil before South Korea; South Korea is the No. 1 priority in crude oil supply.'" He explained that, when combined with the 6 million barrels secured on the 6th, South Korea will urgently import a total of 24 million barrels of crude oil from the UAE.
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter