Floor leader Han Byung-do of the Democratic Party of Korea visited the Yeosu national industrial complex in South Jeolla, which is struggling to procure raw materials due to the Middle East war. Han emphasized that a supplementary budget would be injected immediately to protect the domestic petrochemical industry.
Han said at an on-site roundtable held on the 1st at the South Jeolla regional headquarters of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX) inside the Yeosu complex, "We will immediately inject the supplementary budget to protect the petrochemical industry and safeguard Yeosu's jobs and the region's warmth."
He added, "News that Yeochun NCC, which has the nation's largest ethylene production capacity, lowered its operating rate from the 80% range to the 60% range and declared force majeure is a warning sign that the arteries of South Korea's industrial ecosystem are being blocked," and said, "The crisis at the Yeosu complex is a state of emergency for South Korea's industrial ecosystem."
Han said, "This supplementary budget includes 473.4 billion won to support stable naphtha supplies," adding, "The state will directly compensate the difference in expense incurred when corporations secure alternative import sources to replace the Middle East."
He continued, "For corporations suffering from a credit crunch, we will greatly expand liquidity supply capacity through 7.1 trillion won in export policy finance," adding, "Speed is the key to crisis response. We will focus our floor capabilities to ensure the supplementary budget bill passes the plenary session on the 10th."
The Democratic Party floor leadership and the Special Committee on Economic Response to the Middle East Situation met with petrochemical corporations including Yeochun NCC, Lotte Chemical, LG Chem, and GS Caltex, as well as officials from the Korea Chemical Industry Association.