Alarmed ASEAN leaders discuss crisis plan to mitigate backlash from Middle East war

CEBU, Philippines (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders met in an annual summit Friday under intense pressure to mitigate the impact on their people and economies from the Iran war, which one top minister said, “should not have occurred in the first place.”

The alarm by the heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is underscored by their decision to focus discussions on a contingency plan to ensure their fast-growing region, which imports most of its oil and gas from the Middle East, will have stable fuel and food supplies.

The Philippines is hosting the summit on the central island province of Cebu. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the summit to be stripped of the traditional pomp and pageantry in keeping with the economic headwinds worldwide.

A key dilemma of the ASEAN leaders is how to carry out large-scale evacuations from the Middle East, where more than a million of their citizens work and live, if widespread hostilities flare up again.

Several Southeast Asian citizens have been killed since the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Feb. 28 against Iran. The hostilities have continued sporadically despite a month-old ceasefire, especially in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

A draft of a joint declaration by the leaders which outlines a contingency plan and which was seen by The Associated Press, called on the regional bloc’s 11 state members to share information and strengthen coordination with international organizations “to ensure the safety and welfare of ASEAN nationals in affected areas.”

Known for their conservative and careful rhetoric, top delegates to the ASEAN summit avoided blunt expressions of their disappointment over the continuing hostilities, but Thailand’s foreign minister, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, was more emphatic and called for the current ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran to be indefinitely extended and the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz assured.

“This war should not have occurred in the first place,” Sihasak told AP in a brief interview and added that all ASEAN states were alarmed. “We don’t know what the objectives are right?”

“The peace talks seem to be moving but we want the war to end,” Sihasak said.

ASEAN’s contingency plan calls for actions including the ratification possibly this year of an agreement that will pave the way for coordinated emergency fuel sharing, planning a regional power grid, diversifying the region’s sources of crude oil, promoting the use of electric vehicles and studying the use of new technologies, including civilian nuclear energy.

Despite the focus on the Middle East and their shortened summit to cut costs, the leaders will take up major regional flash points, including the South China Sea territorial disputes involving Beijing, a five-year civil war in Myanmar and a recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.

In a separate statement by the leaders on maritime issues that will be made public after the summit, they pledged to “endeavour to conclude the negotiation of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.”

Negotiations on the proposed non-aggression pact by the ASEAN and China has dragged on for more than a decade as increasingly tense confrontations intensified in recent years, particularly between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces.

That has stoked criticisms of ASEAN as an ineffective “talk shop,” where leaders show up each year in their native shirts and pose for a group handshake to project unity despite deep divisions.

ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines are involved in the decades-long territorial standoffs in the South China Sea. The other members of the regional bloc are Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

Aaron Favila and Syawall Zain in Cebu, Philippines contributed to this report.

From left, Myanmar's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hau Khan Sum, Malaysia's first lady Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Thailand's prime minister's wife Thananon Niramit, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, Vietnam's Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, Philippines first lady Maria Louise Marcos, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, his wife Loo Tze Lui, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, his son Prince Abdul Mateen, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, his wife Pich Chanmony and Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone pose for a group photo during the opening ceremony of the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Cebu, Philippines on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)

From left, East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, Vietnam's Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong hold hands for a group photo during the opening ceremony of the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Cebu, Philippines on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)

From left, Philippines first lady Maria Louise Marcos, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, his wife Loo Tze Lui, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, his son Prince Abdul Mateen and Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto leave the stage after a group photo during the opening ceremony of the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Cebu, Philippines on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his remarks during the opening ceremony of the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Cebu, Philippines on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)

From left, Myanmar's Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs U Hau Khan Sum, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, Vietnam's Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet, and Laos' Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone hold hands for a group photo during the opening ceremony of the 48th ASEAN summit and Related Meeting in Cebu, Philippines on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, Pool)

SEOSAN, South Korea (AP) — A Malta-flagged tanker carrying 1 million barrels of crude oil arrived off South Korea’s west coast Friday after passing through the Strait of Hormuz in mid-April, a South Korean refinery said.

Like many other Asian nations, South Korea imports much of its crude oil from the Middle East. The latest shipment of 1 million barrels reportedly equals 35-50% of South Korea’s daily crude oil consumption.

With Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz jolting the world economy and causing a spike in fuel prices, the prolonged Iran war has also raised concerns about a looming energy crisis in South Korea’s trade-dependent economy. The country has introduced price caps on gasoline and other petroleum products for the first time in decades to prevent costs from soaring, and instructed refiners to divert naphtha exports for domestic use while scrambling to secure alternative oil supplies and shipping routes.

On Friday morning, the tanker, Odessa, reached waters off South Korea's western port city of Seosan, weeks after passing through the Strait of Hormuz during a period of ceasefire talks between Iran and the United States, according to HD Hyundai Oilbank.

The tanker is scheduled to berth at the company's offshore mooring facility later Friday to unload its crude oil. HD Hyundai Oilbank said it plans to refine the crude oil into petroleum products like gasoline, diesel and naphtha. It said it has facilities to refine up to 690,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

South Korea last year imported more than 60% of its crude and 50% of its naphtha, a key petrochemical feedstock used in plastics manufacturing, through the Strait of Hormuz.

Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung and Hyung-jin Kim contributed to this story from Seoul, South Korea.

Malta-flagged tanker Odessa is seen near Daesan Port in Seosan, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Malta-flagged tanker Odessa is seen near Daesan Port in Seosan, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A Malta-flagged tanker is seen near Daesan Port in Seosan, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A Malta-flagged tanker is seen near Daesan Port in Seosan, South Korea, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)