South Korea asks UK for exemption on Russian LNG sanctions

SEOUL, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's trade minister on Thursday asked his British counterpart to exempt South Korea's imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Britain's upcoming sanctions, citing concerns over Seoul's energy security.

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo made the request during a video meeting with Britain's newly appointed Minister for Trade Anas Sarwar to discuss bilateral trade issues, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.

"Britain's plan to ban the provision of maritime transport, insurance and related services for Russian LNG starting in January 2027 could undermine South Korea's energy security and the stability of its LNG supply," Yeo said.

Without an exemption, the measure could disrupt imports of Russian LNG by the state-run Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), which has a long-term contract to purchase LNG from the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project off Russia's Pacific coast through March 2028, the ministry said.

The ministry also warned that shipments could be disrupted if British insurers suspend reinsurance and other services related to the contract.

The European Union (EU), which adopted similar sanctions, agreed last month to exempt LNG shipments from the Sakhalin-II project to South Korea and Japan.

Yeo called for close consultations with Britain and urged it to adopt a similar exemption.

He also urged Britain to allocate reasonable import quotas for South Korean steel products after the country recently tightened its safeguard measures on steel imports.

On July 1, Britain reduced import quotas for steel products by nearly half and imposed a 50 percent tariff on shipments exceeding the quotas.

Although South Korea's duty-free quota increased to 173,000 tons from 93,000 tons, the number of steel product categories covered by the quota also rose to nine from four, effectively tightening the restrictions.