The government has strongly discouraged hoarding of urea in light of a sufficient domestic supply and normalize​d shipments from China to other countries such as Vietnam.

First industry vice minister Jang Young-jin made the appeal during a visit to the Lotte Mart World Tower branch on Wednesday, noting that the government has secured more than enough urea to last three months.

As concerns grew after government officials announced on Sunday that China's customs authorities recently blocked the export of Chinese urea to South Korean companies, Jang said unlike the 2021 shortage, companies have been able to secure the compound through imports from countries other than China.

The China Nitrogen Fertilizer Industry Association, a group under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the government pointed to domestic supply concerns as the reason for the recent export curbs of the compound used in many diesel vehicles to convert dangerous nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen gas and water.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry has requested that each diplomatic mission overseas strengthen response efforts to supply chain disruptions such as this.

During the fourth Economic and Security Officers’ Meeting on Wednesday, the foreign ministry inspected the operational status of the warning system for supply chains of key materials managed by 37 overseas embassies and discussed possible improvements.