The ministry's plan to assist South Korea's vital export sector comes after Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have stepped up attacks on vessels using international shipping lanes in the Red Sea to protest against Israel's war in Gaza.
"With the spread of conflicts in the Middle East, we cannot rule out possibilities of similar disruptions in other regions of the Middle East," Vice Oceans Minister Song Myeong-dal said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The ministry said it intended to preemptively secure freight space at shipping firms to minimize the impact of Red Sea tensions on South Korea's exports and imports.
It would provide alternative ships for car exports and additional storage yards, since the auto sector is expected to face the biggest disruption, Song said.
South Korea aimed to secure the use of four container ships for North European and Mediterranean routes in the period running from mid-January to early February, the ministry said.
The attacks impact a route vital to East-West trade, especially of oil, as ships access the Suez Canal via the Red Sea.
In response, some shipping companies have instructed vessels to instead sail around southern Africa, a slower and more expensive route.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Ed Davies)
