President Lee Jae-myung on the 26th asked the public to join in conserving energy amid an energy supply crisis and high oil prices stemming from the Middle East situation, saying, "We will, if at all possible, keep electricity rates as they are without changing them now." Presiding over an emergency economic review meeting at the Blue House that morning, Lee said, "In the electricity sector, KEPCO has a monopoly on supply, and the government is 100% responsible for the structure."
However, he said that if electricity rates are kept in place to reduce the burden on the public, usage could instead increase, widening the deficit. He added, "Government fiscal losses are also a problem, and we could see excessive energy waste or a failure to curb use," and said, "We ask for your special cooperation so the public can reduce electricity consumption."
Lee noted that KEPCO's liability has reached about 200 trillion won and repeatedly urged participation in energy saving, including the public sector's five-day rotation driving restrictions for government vehicles and greater use of public transportation.
In particular, ahead of the second notice of the oil refiners' price ceiling system taking effect on the 27th, he said, "We ask frontline gas stations to actively cooperate in setting prices in line with the purpose of the system," and added, "Acts of collusion and hoarding to take unfair profits by exploiting the community's crisis will be met with strict action under a zero-tolerance principle."
Regarding the spread of "retaliatory airstrikes" by the United States, Israel and Iran across the Middle East, Lee said, "The International Energy Agency assesses this crisis as being as serious as the combined impact of the two oil shocks of the 1970s and the Russia-Ukraine war shock in 2022," adding, "In a global supply chain that is intertwined in ways incomparable to the past, it is almost impossible to pinpoint exactly where the risks lie and how far they will spread."
In this regard, the previous day the government said it had set up an emergency economic situation room under the emergency economic review meeting, led by Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, and would work with the emergency economic headquarters chaired by the prime minister to seek response measures. It also plans to announce a 25 trillion won "war supplementary budget" after a Cabinet meeting next week.