SOUTH KOREA PERSPECTIVE

Seoul's coverage of the Strait of Hormuz reflects a country that has transformed energy dependency into obsessive documentation. The Korea Times runs two complementary pieces: the first assesses prospects for peace talks in Pakistan, highlighting the "competing demands" of both sides—with the Strait and Lebanon identified as negotiation sticking points; the second compiles facts on shipping traffic through the Strait since the ceasefire, reaching a blunt conclusion: passage remains "constrained" despite the truce. South Korea, the world's fourth-largest crude oil importer and almost entirely reliant on Gulf supplies, cannot afford optimism. South Korean coverage is the most factual in the Asian media pool: figures, verified facts, stated positions—no projections, no hope. It reads as the analysis of a country preparing for the worst.