Korean AdBlue Shortage Crisis: China Says "Self-Inflicted... What Does It Have to Do with Us?"

Chinese Media: "Korea Passive in Areas Without Economic Benefits"

The chartered bus union is holding a press conference on the 10th in front of the Blue House Fountain in Jongno-gu, Seoul, urging a resolution to the urea water issue. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Recently, as Chinese media have been focusing on Korea's urea solution shortage crisis, some outlets have criticized the Korean government for failing to prepare in advance for the shortage.

On the 9th, Xinniaozhixun, an internet media operated by the Chinese state-owned Chengdu TV, pointed out, "(Korea) is a petrochemical industrial powerhouse and is not incapable of producing urea," adding, "The Korean government adopts economic policies favorable to conglomerates and is passive in sectors without economic benefits."

It continued, "It has neither achieved self-sufficiency nor established a stockpiling system for important strategic resources related to the national economy and people's livelihoods," and questioned, "Korea's crisis in certain sectors is self-inflicted, so what does it have to do with China?"

Internet media Pengpai also reported, "Korea relies almost entirely on China for automotive urea," and "Although the Korean government has been paying attention to this issue for several days, it has not found a fundamental solution."

The outlet pointed out that the urea solution shortage crisis could affect not only self-employed workers in delivery and transportation industries but also construction sites using large machinery and the automobile industry.

On the same day, the state-run media Guancha Wang also focused on the urea solution shortage, stating, "Due to reduced supply from China, Korea is facing a urea shortage problem." The newspaper reported that there is considerable public opinion within Korea calling for assistance from China to overcome the shortage crisis.

Meanwhile, the urea solution shortage crisis began when China, which halted imports of Australian coal due to diplomatic conflicts, effectively banned urea exports to Korea on the 15th of last month. Korea has depended on China for more than 90% of its urea imports.

Regarding this, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, said at the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Special Committee plenary session on the 10th, "About 20,000 tons of urea are currently waiting to be shipped from China, and negotiations are going well, so it seems the issue will be resolved soon," adding, "About 80,000 tons of automotive urea are needed annually, so 20,000 tons could resolve a significant part of the difficulties."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.