▲ Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (C) gives a briefing on the government's economic response system for the Middle East crisis at the government complex in Seoul on March 25, 2026. (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) PM-Mideast crisis

(2nd LD) Cheong Wa Dae, PM's office to launch emergency economic teams to oversee response to Mideast crisis

(ATTN: UPDATES with Cheong Wa Dae briefing)

By Lee Haye-ah

SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Wednesday that two emergency economic teams will be launched at Cheong Wa Dae and his office to oversee the government's response to the Middle East crisis.

Kim said at a briefing that an emergency economic situation room will be created at Cheong Wa Dae, while an emergency economic headquarters will be set up under his office due to the widening impact of the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

"It is time now to step up the government's preemptive response system to prepare against a prolonged situation, including worst-case scenarios," he said.

The two new bodies are a follow-up to President Lee Jae Myung's instruction Tuesday to activate a preemptive emergency response system to handle any crisis that could hit people's livelihoods and the economy in general.

A separate emergency economic meeting led by the president will serve as the "control tower."

Cheong Wa Dae said at a later press briefing that Lee's chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, will head the situation room, with National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, in deputy roles.

Within the situation room, five groups will be set up to handle macroeconomic, energy, financial, livelihood and overseas issues.

"It's difficult to assess at the moment how the situation in the Middle East will unfold," Hong Ihk-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, said at the briefing.

"The government is preparing response measures for each of various scenarios bearing in mind that (the repercussions) could last anywhere between three and six months."

In particular, bringing the energy supply back to normal could take around four months, he said.

The emergency economic headquarters, meanwhile, will be headed by the prime minister, with the deputy prime minister for economic affairs as his deputy.

The headquarters will convene twice a week to begin with -- once led by the prime minister and once by the deputy prime minister.

Under it, five subdivisions will be set up to handle the impact on the macroeconomy, the energy sector, the financial sector and people's livelihoods, and to monitor the situation overseas.

"Though this Middle East crisis is serious, if the government responds preemptively and the people collect their strengths, we will overcome the crisis and create a new opportunity for a grand national transformation," the prime minister said.

South Korea relies heavily on oil and gas imports shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed since the war began last month.

To cope with potential energy shortfalls, the government announced conservation measures Tuesday that included a five-day, license plate-based, rotation system for public sector vehicles and recommendations to take shorter showers and charge phones during the day.

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