"South Korea considers expanding U.S.-made energy imports when Trump is elected"

Foreign media reported that South Korea could increase U.S. energy imports if former President Donald Trump is elected in the U.S. presidential election.

Bloomberg reported on the 4th local time that South Korean government officials have been preparing for the post-U.S. presidential election situation for months and are considering increasing U.S. energy purchases if Trump wins and puts pressure on trading partners.

Officials have been meeting with businesses and laboratories to discuss strategies since the U.S. presidential election, especially in recent weeks, Bloomberg said.

Even in the second Trump administration, if the trade imbalance persists, it is likely to call on trading partners to improve their balance of payments, which could prompt the South Korean government to urge companies to increase purchases of U.S. oil and gas.

The South Korean government may ask major energy importers such as SK Innovation and GS Caltex to increase their share of U.S. energy purchases, but the past does not increase the share as much as the government expected, the sources said.

Just before former President Trump began his first term in 2017, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy urged domestic refiners to diversify their sources of crude oil, saying it needed to improve energy security and stabilize prices, according to Bloomberg.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea, SK Innovation and GS Caltex declined to confirm the report by Bloomberg News.