SOUTH KOREA PERSPECTIVE

Seoul captures a signal others ignore: Iran's Strait of Hormuz closure following Israeli strikes on Hezbollah. The Korea Times documents this escalation parallel to the ceasefire — Iran shut down the strait after Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, de facto linking Lebanese question to vital maritime passage. For South Korea, importing over 70 percent of its oil via Hormuz, this development is existential. Korean framing is the panel's most pragmatic: no diplomacy discourse or victory claims, but direct alarm over energy supply. Seoul sees not conflict's end but beginning of new uncertainty phase where the strait opens or closes per regional provocations. South Korean energy vulnerability transforms every Middle Eastern escalation into direct threat to industry and daily life of 52 million South Koreans.