President Lee Jae-myung said on the 25th, "We will strictly punish these antisocial practices that exploit a community crisis to worsen the crisis and make money."
On X (formerly Twitter) the same day, the president noted in connection with the recent health authorities' special crackdown that uncovered a slew of "syringe hoarding companies," saying, "I instructed the Cabinet to take the maximum possible follow-up measures, including a swift investigation, severe punishment, and the highest level of administrative sanctions."
He added, "What's the point of living well alone? Let's live together."
Meanwhile, a prior special crackdown by health authorities found that 32 distributors violated the "notice banning syringe hoarding." Some companies were caught stockpiling about 130,000 syringes without selling them, or supplying 620,000 only to specific clients—59 times their average monthly sales.