▲ Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (C) is shown in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) PM-emergency meeting

(LEAD) PM Kim convenes emergency meeting to review Middle East situation

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in paras 3-5, 9)

SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Sunday convened an emergency meeting of government officials to review the situation in the Middle East following the death of Iran's supreme leader in attacks by the United States and Israel.

During the meeting, Kim was briefed on the latest developments in the region and discussed response measures, his office said.

Kim instructed the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and the Financial Services Commission to immediately activate monitoring systems for international oil prices, foreign exchange rates and the stock market, and to preemptively prepare market stabilization measures and financial policy tools.

He also directed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to assess the supply and demand status of key energy resources, including crude oil and liquefied natural gas, and to take steps to minimize the impact on domestic industries and households.

The government will mobilize all available resources at the pangovernment level to prepare for every possible scenario, his office added.

The meeting came after President Lee Jae Myung ordered the establishment of a prime minister-led emergency response system on the Middle East situation before departing earlier in the day for a two-nation trip to Singapore and the Philippines.

About 60 South Koreans are currently in Iran and around 600 in Israel, with no casualties reported so far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

On the same day, the foreign ministry also held a meeting with officials from its headquarters and overseas missions to review conditions facing South Koreans in the region and discuss measures to ensure their safety.

Kim ordered that the government's diplomatic and security crisis response system operate around the clock, placing top priority on the safety and protection of South Korean nationals residing in the Middle East and neighboring countries.

"The government will immediately dispatch a rapid response team if the situation in the Middle East worsens and will prepare transportation plans for South Korean nationals in the region," he said.



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