Lee Hyung-il, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said on the 14th, "Due to the recent heat wave and heavy rain, there are concerns about damage to agricultural and livestock products, as well as price increases for certain items such as potatoes and napa cabbage." He also noted, "While related departments conduct a joint focus on items with expected price and supply fluctuations during the summer, please ensure thorough preparations for supply stabilization, including on-site guidance for heavy rain, inspections of reservoirs, orchards, and livestock facilities, as well as crop management."
On this day, Vice Minister Lee presided over a meeting of vice ministers related to inflation at the Government Seoul Complex. Attending the meeting were Vice Minister Lee, Kang Hyung-seok, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Kim Seong-beom, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
Vice Minister Kang said, "To prepare for summer weather disasters, we will thoroughly secure stockpiles in advance and will swiftly support the resumption of production by mobilizing all available resources in the event of a disaster."
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs decided to increase the contracted production volume of potatoes by 1,000 tons to stabilize prices. The volume of napa cabbage will be increased by more than double compared to the previous year (from 17,000 tons to 35,500 tons) through expanded stockpiling. Additionally, plans are in place to increase the supply of Hanwoo beef to 1.3 times the normal level in preparation for increased summer demand.
Vice Minister Kang also said, "Recently, the food and distribution industries have been participating in efforts to alleviate consumer burdens by holding discount events of up to 50% on items that have a high consumer perception, such as ramen, bread, coffee, and ice cream, which see concentrated demand during the summer vacation period (July-August). I will do my best to communicate closely with the industry and continuously identify challenges to spread discount events for processed foods."
Kim Seong-beom, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Starting from the 11th in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, we plan to operate direct transaction markets selling seafood at a 20-30% discount in about 60 locations nationwide until September." He also noted, "From July 28 to August 21, we plan to conduct a discount event of up to 50% on six popular fish species, such as mackerel and squid, as well as abalone and eel, which are commonly enjoyed as summer health foods."