South Korea has secured 74.62 million barrels of crude oil for next month, equivalent to about 87 per cent of its average monthly oil imports last year, the government says according to Al Jazeera, as Seoul seeks to stabilise energy supplies amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

President Lee Jae Myung’s chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said the country has also reduced its reliance on crude imports from the Middle East, its primary supplier, down to 56pc from 69pc.