Lee Jae-myung and UAE 'Trump Supply Model Breaking Blockade'; Kang Hoon-sik & Media Distort It into 'Securing Crude Oil'
Regarding the "creation of a Trump-style crude oil supply model" based on the U.S. demand for a "supply chain securing" strategy within the "Cooperation Agreement to Neutralize the Strait Blockade" between President Lee Jae-myung and the UAE, Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik and the media have distorted the narrative to "securing crude oil."
During the Iran War, the strait blockade caused a "crude oil supply failure." When U.S. President Trump announced a new principle of "user nations resolving security issues" after his "request for troop deployment from allies" was thwarted, President Lee Jae-myung was the first to dispatch a special envoy to the UAE—a Middle Eastern country that had agreed to "Trump troop deployment"—to sign a "Supply Resumption Agreement," thereby demonstrating support for Trump's strategy.
However, the Blue House and the Korean media are distorting this matter by portraying it as "Korea alone specially securing supply to resolve the crude oil shortage."
During a Blue House briefing, Chief of Staff Kang stated, "We have agreed to sign a 'Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Crude Oil Supply Chain Cooperation' containing provisions such as exploring alternative supply routes for crude oil between the two countries, and we plan to sign it soon."
By having Korea "provide secured supply" to restore shipments at UAE ports, which are currently in a state of supply disruption, the two nations have become top strategic partners in the effort to become "supply-demanding nations" to break the Trump administration's "Iran oil blockade."
Upon actually agreeing to the signing of this agreement, Chief of Staff Kang stated in an announcement on the 18th, "We have confirmed the emergency import of a total of 18 million barrels of crude oil," and Korean media outlets unanimously reported this as "securing crude oil supply," coordinating their falsification of the facts.
Chief of Staff Kang, who reached an agreement with the UAE as President Lee’s special envoy for strategic economic cooperation, announced, “We have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Crude Oil Supply Chain Cooperation that includes exploring alternative supply routes for crude oil between the two countries, and it is scheduled to be signed soon.” Regarding crude oil procurement, he stated, “We plan to supply 6 million barrels via three UAE-flagged vessels and 12 million barrels via six Korean-flagged vessels; when combined with the 6 million barrels already supplied, a total of 24 million barrels will be urgently imported from the UAE.”
Crude oil transport from the UAE is currently impossible, and it appears that restoration measures will be taken for the Port of Fujairah, where loading via Iranian drones is prohibited under an agreement with Korea.
With the depletion of Dubai crude, the UAE’s main export crude, prices continuing to rise and futures trading suspended, the UAE used the war with Iran to cultivate Murban Crude—which is cheaper and has abundant reserves—as a new crude oil type and inserted it into futures trading; it appears the Lee Jae-myung administration was the first to engage in collusion with this. During Trump's first term, the UAE took the lead in the Abraham Accords—led by Trump's son-in-law—as part of its pro-Israel policy, and was the fastest to reach an agreement on the normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel.
Yonhap News reported on the 18th under the headline "<Kang Hoon-sik: 'UAE Promises Top Priority Crude Oil Supply... Emergency Import of Total 24 Million Barrels'>".
The Korea Economic Daily reported on the 18th under the headline "<Kang Hoon-sik: 'UAE to Emergency Supply 18 Million Barrels of Crude Oil... Worst Situation Averted'>" stating that "Chief of Staff Kang said, 'We agreed to be able to urgently purchase crude oil from the UAE at any time if necessary, depending on the progress of the situation in the Middle East,'" and that "the Blue House assesses that the crude oil supply shortage has escaped the worst situation through cooperation with the UAE."
The Dong-A Ilbo reported under the headline "<Kang Hoon-sik: 'Emergency Import of Total 24 Million Barrels of Crude Oil from UAE'>".
The Chosun Ilbo reported under the headline "<Kang Hoon-sik: 'Secured". Under the headline "<Kang Hoon-sik: '18 Million Barrels of UAE Crude Oil to be Added... Total Supply of 24 Million Barrels'>,"
The Hankyoreh reported, "<Chief Secretary Kang stated, 'An additional naphtha rod vessel is heading toward Korea. If combined with the 6 million barrels (imported) mentioned previously, we have secured a supply of 24 million barrels.' Earlier, Chief Secretary Kang had announced on the 6th that it had decided to urgently import more than 6 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates.>"
In another article, the Dong-A Ilbo reported, "<Chief Secretary Kang departed for the war-torn UAE around midnight on the 15th after receiving a mission from President Lee Jae-myung to 'secure crude oil supply rights.' He paid a courtesy call on UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and delivered a personal letter from the President.>"
The article continued, "<Currently, crude oil shipments have been suspended at the UAE port of Fujairah, an oil route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, following a second attack by Iran in just two days on the 16th.>"
Chief of Staff Kang revealed the "state of crude oil supply disruption in the UAE," stating, "Even on the morning I arrived in the UAE, the port supplying crude oil was hit," and added, "This means that crude oil will be shipped immediately as soon as it is restored within a few days." He also confirmed the purpose of dispatching a special envoy to "restore the supply."
On the 18th, President Trump posted on "TruthSocial," "I wonder what would happen if we 'ended' the remaining part of the Iranian terrorist state and held the countries using this 'strait' that we do not use accountable," adding, "Then we could quickly get our 'allies'—who are currently unresponsive—to move."
Reuters reported that Trump "initially, the U.S. Navy could have escorted the ships, and he asked other countries for help in opening the major waterways," adding that "with little interest from allies, Trump considered simply leaving on the 18th." Anwar Gargash, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the UAE President, stated at an online Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) event on the 17th that the UAE could join the international efforts led by the United States to ensure the safety and security of the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. State Department announced in a press release that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, on the same day.
Energy Economy reported on the 19th in its "Strategy to Develop Murban Crude, the UAE's Representative Crude Type, into a Global Benchmark Type" that "since refineries are configured to match the characteristics of crude oil, it is difficult to change them once they are set; therefore, refineries that have started using UAE crude oil must continue to use UAE crude oil for the time being." Murban crude, the UAE's new mainstay, is a low-sulfur light crude; while high-sulfur Dubai crude is trading at over $150 per barrel with production nearly halted due to depletion, Murban crude remains in the low $110 range even amidst the war.
In particular, Murban crude is available for futures trading due to its abundant supply, backed by the production oil fields of ADNOC, an Abu Dhabi state-owned company that produces 1.6 million barrels per day.
Energy Economy reported that "ADNOC launched the Abu Dhabi Futures Exchange (IFAD) in 2021 in partnership with ICE, the world's largest exchange, and introduced Murban crude futures trading," adding that "GS Caltex is the only domestic refiner to have partnered with IFAD to import the volume."
KBS reported on the oil tanker that left the Strait of Hormuz and headed for Korea before the Iran war, under the title "Oil Tanker That Broke Through the 'Hormuz Blockade' Arrives Today... Crude Oil Supply Emergency." The report stated, "The Malaysian-flagged crude oil tanker 'Eagle Bellore' barely managed to escape the strait by accelerating just before the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. The final destination of this ship, which departed from the port of Al-Basra in southern Iraq and is carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil, is Seosan, South Chungcheong Province," adding, "The 'escape' of the Eagle Bellore, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) built at Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard in 2023, is extremely welcome news for us, whose crude oil import lines have been cut off," thereby altering the title to "Blockade Escape."
See <Japan: 'Diplomacy First' on Trump's Mine Countermeasure Ship; Lee Jae-myung: 'Deployment for UAE Transaction Escort', March 18, 2026>