Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Sungbum disclosed that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) is operating a close 24-hour emergency response system by upgrading the Emergency Preparation Team (Head: Director General) that had been in operation since Monday, March 1 to the Emergency Countermeasures Team (Head: Vice Minister) beginning March 2 due to the recent worsening of the situation in the Middle East. MOF has reinforced its response system by closely coordinating with the relevant ministries since the situation on Saturday, February 28 and has held daily situation review meetings chaired by the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. At the situation review meeting held this morning (March 3) in particular, the safety of Korean vessels and seafarers was given top priority, and the ▲current status of safety measures for our ships in the Middle East, ▲maritime logistics trends and measures taken, and ▲matters related to crew support were inspected.