South Korea is not considering paying Iran fees for the passage of Middle Eastern oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, the presidential Blue House said on Thursday, denying an earlier local media report, according to Reuters.

“Reviewing the payment of Hormuz transit fees is completely untrue and is not something under consideration,” a Blue House spokesperson told Reuters.

Earlier, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported that Seoul was carefully considering whether to pay such fees, citing an unidentified presidential official, amid concerns over potential disruptions to energy supplies from the Middle East.

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