President Lee Jae-myung on the 19th, regarding the heightened possibility that the Middle East situation will drag on due to Iran's retaliatory airstrikes, said, "Cheong Wa Dae and all government ministries must soberly recognize that this is an 'economic wartime situation.'" Lee presided over a senior secretaries' meeting at Cheong Wa Dae that afternoon and said, "Preemptive measures are needed for people's livelihoods across the board."
Lee said, "Speed is life right now," and labeled the supplementary budget proposal the government is putting together as a "war supplementary budget." He added, "It must be structured in a way that eases the shock to people's livelihoods and keeps the momentum for economic recovery alive," and said, "Please design it quickly so that it substantially reduces the damage to vulnerable groups, small business owners, and corporations that are being hit hard by the Middle East situation, and so that funds circulate smoothly on the ground."
Earlier, Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X (formerly Twitter) the day before (local time), regarding Israel's targeted airstrike on South Pars, Iran's largest gas field, "This attack will further complicate the situation and will lead to 'uncontrollable consequences' whose ripple effects will sweep across the world." South Pars produces more than 70% of Iran's natural gas. This is the first time Israel has directly attacked Iran's energy production facilities.
In particular, after Israel attacked Iran's naval vessels following strikes on energy infrastructure, Iran carried out a retaliatory attack on Qatar's key gas facilities. Foreign media expect Israel's attacks on energy infrastructure to inevitably lead to a "protracted war." As a result, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at one point broke above $100 the same day, and Brent crude, for the first time since the 9th, traded in the $110 per Barrel intraday. The price of Dubai crude imported into Korea rose to $136.42 per Barrel the same day.