South Korea stop all oil imports from Iran next month

[FairAndUnbiased]

I actually monitored the PLA handling of the relief effort back in 2008. I was simply dumb-founded how long it took them days to get troops into affected areas, with Wen shouting in the blocked road when the heavy equipment was coming to clear the road, and the PLA troops were resorting to shoveling to clear the road. The rescue effort was really really bad, and tens of thousands of people would have made it if the rescue team arrived sooner.

The lack of a coordinated centralized command and communication equipment incompatibilities made the problem worse.

You "monitored" the handling of the relief effort? As in you stood there, or you "monitored" it online? Do they let conscript rejects onto such sites?

I searched on google and there was a single sentence about "communication equipment incompatibility" from an Indian source with no citations.

Also, the rescue effort received significant praise from the US and Japan, who suffered disasters of comparable magnitude.

 

[xuxu1457]

Iran threatens to stop imports from South Korea over oil haltBy Paula Hancocks, CNN
Iran threatens to stop imports from South Korea over oil halt - CNN.com
June 27, 2012 -- Updated 0828 GMT (1628 HKT)

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- Iran threatened Wednesday to halt all imports of goods from South Korea in response to Seoul's announcement a day earlier that it would stop accepting Iranian oil.

South Korea said Tuesday that it would suspend all Iranian oil imports from the start of July in response to a European Union insurance ban on tankers carrying crude from Iran.

The Iranian ambassador to South Korea, Ahmad Masumifar, responded by saying in an interview with the South Korean news agency Yonhap on Wednesday that Tehran "may decide to fully stop importing Korean goods."

Reached by telephone, an official at the press office of the Iranian Embassy in Seoul confirmed Masumifar had made the comments to Yonnhap but declined to elaborate further.

The EU and United States have been widening sanctions against Iran recently to put pressure on Tehran to curtail its nuclear program.

Western powers say they believe the program is intended to build nuclear weapons, but Iran insists it is for peaceful purposes.

South Korea is the first major consumer of Iranian oil in Asia to suspend all imports. In 2010, it was the fourth biggest importer of Iranian oil, according to an official from the South Korean Knowledge Economy Ministry. Figures for 2011 aren't yet available, the official said.

Iran's other big oil customers in the region are Japan, China and India -- none of which have announced plans to stop receiving shipments.

The Knowledge Economy Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that it relies heavily on European companies for insurance of its oil imports and has sent representatives to the EU to make the case for continuing insurance coverage.

"The government has been putting contingency plans in place in case Iranian oil imports would be stopped," the statement said. Alternative supplies are being sourced from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait.

South Korea already lowered its Iranian oil imports by 44% between January and May -- from 7 million barrels to 3.9 million barrels -- to try to lessen its dependence on them, according to government figures.

 

[Viet]

South Korea ranks third in export and fourth in import to Iran. A halt will hurt Iran more than South Korea.


wiki: Iran economy

Export goods: Petroleum (80%), chemical and petrochemical products (4%), fruits and nuts (2%), cars (2%), carpets (1%), technical services
Main export partners: China 16.3%, India 13.1%, Japan 11.5%, South Korea 7.1%, Turkey 4.2% (2009)

Import goods: industrial raw materials and intermediate goods (46%), capital goods (35%), foodstuffs and other consumer goods (19%), technical services
Main import partners: UAE 15%, China 14.5%, Germany 9.7%, South Korea 7.3%, Italy 5.2%, Russia 5.1% (2009)