Seoul: The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the government have reached an agreement to draft and present this year's first supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly by the end of March. This measure aims to address livelihood concerns stemming from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, officials announced on Monday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the DP and the government have also decided to gradually release 22.46 million barrels of oil from South Korea's strategic reserves over the next three months. This decision comes in response to rising global oil prices triggered by the Middle East conflict. The announcement followed a task force meeting attended by representatives from the finance ministry, the Financial Services Commission, and other agencies, as stated by Rep. Ahn Do-geol during a press briefing.

The planned release of oil is part of a broader agreement among the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency. The agreement involves making 400 million barrels of oil available from their reserves to the market. South Korea's contribution, accounting for 5.6 percent of the total, has been calculated based on its share of the member countries' total oil consumption.

Additionally, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Resources is set to elevate the national resource crisis alert from Level 1 to Level 2 within the country's four-tier national resource security warning system later this week. Detailed plans for the release of strategic oil reserves will also be announced. According to Rep. Ahn, South Korea currently holds oil reserves sufficient for 208 days and liquefied natural gas reserves for nine days.