Seoul, March 24 (IANS) South Korea President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday called on the government to preemptively implement an emergency response system to cope with concerns about the supply of oil and gas, as the US-Israeli war with Iran has dragged on and disruptions of global energy markets have continued.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Lee also asked for the swift passage of an extra budget to help small and medium-sized firms and vulnerable households hit by a surge in energy prices.
“Petrochemical products are used in everything from food delivery containers to medical equipment, making it difficult to predict when and where disruptions may occur,” Lee said. “This poses a serious threat to people’s livelihoods, and the government must proactively activate an emergency response system at the national level.”
Lee urged ministries to conduct comprehensive reviews of items at risk of supply disruption, assess their potential impact, and identify alternative supply sources to draw up robust contingency plans and prevent a worst-case scenario.
Noting that a second round of the oil price cap system is scheduled for Friday, Lee instructed the government to come up with practical measures to ease the burden of rising fuel prices.
The government introduced a temporary fuel price cap system on March 13 to help stabilise the energy market, with adjustments to be made every two weeks.
He also warned against profiteering in times of crisis, noting that prosecutors on Monday launched an investigation into allegations that local refiners colluded to set oil prices in the domestic market.
“(Authorities) should root out and strictly punish unfair profiteering that exploits public hardship in line with the law and principles,” he said, urging the petrochemical industry to join nationwide efforts to overcome the crisis.
Lee also called for public support for energy-saving efforts, calling for public institutions to implement vehicle rotation schemes based on license plate numbers every five days and encouraging people to use public transportation.
He urged the government to swiftly draw up a supplementary budget, focusing on measures to stabilize the domestic economy, minimise the impact on affected industries and ensure the resilience of supply chains, Xinhua news agency reported.
“As the impact of the war in the Middle East continues to grow, the faster a ‘wartime supplementary budget’ is prepared and passed, the greater its effect will be,” he said.
During the meeting, Lee instructed relevant ministries to take firm action against collusion and price rigging in the housing market, describing long-running real estate speculation as one of the country’s most serious challenges.
“We must eliminate any possibility of exploiting the current system and establish systems without even a 0.1 per cent flaw, without any political considerations,” he said.
–IANS
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