Seoul: Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday called for stronger energy security cooperation with South Korea amid the uneven impact of the ongoing Middle East crisis on the Asia-Pacific region. She emphasized that the two countries should continue to serve as reliable energy suppliers for each other.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Wong made the remarks during a meeting with reporters in Seoul, where she held talks with her South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun, and separately with Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan. The discussions focused on joint responses to global supply disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

"The impact of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the conflict in the Middle East is being felt by people across this region disproportionately," Wong said. "The best way to manage this is to ensure we work together to provide each other with reliable supplies of energy and to manage the disruption."

Wong highlighted that South Korea and Australia have a mutually reliable energy relationship. She noted that South Korean diesel and jet fuel exports enable Australia to continue supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other commodities to Korea and the wider region.

Australia is South Korea's largest LNG supplier and a key supplier of condensate and critical minerals, while Korea is one of Australia's major suppliers of diesel and refined petroleum products.

In a joint statement released earlier in the day, the two sides called for stronger cooperation to ensure stable supplies of diesel and other liquid fuels, as well as energy commodities, including LNG and condensate. They also agreed to "notify and consult each other on any potential disruptions as far as practicable."

"This statement demonstrates that Australia and Korea take this relationship seriously and that we will work closely together to navigate this global disruption," Wong said. She added that the two countries reaffirmed their shared commitment to open markets and rules-based trade, including efforts to address unjustified import and export restrictions, and support open trade in energy and liquid fuels.

The conflict in the Middle East, which began in late February following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, has escalated into a broader war, disrupting global supply chains and rattling markets, as the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy shipping route, has effectively been shut.