President Lee Jae-myung on the 31st, regarding the response to the high oil price crisis stemming from the Middle East situation, called for bold action, saying, "In an emergency, we could invoke the emergency financial and economic order provided by the Constitution." With the government enforcing a price ceiling system that caps refiners' supply prices to gas stations since the 13th, this means even stronger measures could be considered.
Presiding over a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on the morning of the same day, Lee said, "The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has collectively downgraded this year's growth outlook for major countries and warned that oil prices in the second quarter this year could soar to $135," adding, "Given Korea's high external dependence and the large share of energy supplies from the Middle East, even more thorough checks and meticulous emergency measures are required."
He went on, "When we consider countermeasures for any situation, we tend to keep relying on existing practices or routine procedures, but a more proactive and aggressive response is needed," adding, "If necessary, legislate, and exercise our authority and capabilities to the fullest. There is no need to be bound by existing practices." He also said it is possible to implement strong price stabilization measures based on the constitutional emergency financial order.
The "emergency financial and economic order" is stipulated in Article 76 of the Constitution, allowing the president, in major fiscal and economic crises such as domestic unrest, foreign exchange crises, or natural disasters, to take the minimum necessary fiscal and economic measures to maintain public peace and order, or to issue orders with legal force equivalent to legislation without going through the National Assembly.
Since democratization in 1987 under the current Constitution, the only case of invoking the emergency financial and economic order was in 1993, when then-President Kim Young-sam implemented the real-name financial transaction system.