President Lee: "We have secured the maximum amount of crude oil... Please conserve until we overcome this crisis" [U.S.–Iran War]

Seosan, South Chungcheong Province / Seoul — According to The Financial News reporters Seong Seok-woo and Choi Jong-geun, President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea visited the Seosan Oil Storage Base operated by Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) in South Chungcheong Province on the 26th. As economic uncertainty has grown due to the spread of war in the Middle East and rising oil prices, he chaired the second Emergency Economic Review Meeting at Cheong Wa Dae (the Blue House) in the morning, then moved on to an on-site inspection in the afternoon.
■ President Lee visits the Seosan oil storage base
At the Seosan Oil Storage Base, President Lee held an on-site meeting with industry officials. Joining him at the meeting were Kang Hoon-sik, Chief of Staff to the President; Kim Yong-beom, Chief Presidential Secretary for Policy; Joon-Kyung Ha, Senior Presidential Secretary for Economic Growth; Kim Jung-kwan, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy of South Korea; and Kim Sung-hwan, Minister of Energy.
From industry, participants included Kim Dong-chun, head of LG Chem; Na Sang-seop, head of Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical; Gwak Gi-seop, head of management support at Lotte Chemical; Jung Dae-ok, Head of Planning at HD Hyundai Chemical; Cho Hwan-hee, in charge of feedstock procurement at Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical; and Choi Sung-pil, head of the strategic procurement group at LG Chem.
President Lee said, "It is a difficult situation, but it is one that the entire world is experiencing at the same time," adding, "Depending on how well we respond now, I believe this situation could even turn into an opportunity." He went on to stress, "We will once again listen together to the difficulties on the ground today, and to overcome these problems there will be many tasks that the public sector, the private sector, and companies must tackle together by pooling their strength."
President Lee continued, "As you all know, the key is to secure as much crude oil as possible and to reduce consumption so that we can overcome this well." He added, "If there are issues that need to be resolved in that process, using this opportunity to improve them will serve as an important measure of preparedness for the future."
On this day, President Lee reviewed the status of crude oil procurement, listened to companies’ opinions, and discussed response measures. Earlier, as oil prices surged due to the war in the Middle East, Cheong Wa Dae decided to import 24 million barrels of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and implemented an oil price cap system. This oil price cap system is being applied for the first time in about 30 years, since 1997.
■ Lee urges: "Keep electricity rates, but save power"
Before the on-site inspection, President Lee presided over the second Emergency Economic Review Meeting at Cheong Wa Dae and called for active participation in energy saving. "As far as possible, we intend to keep electricity rates unchanged at their current level," he said. However, he emphasized, "Electricity is supplied exclusively by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). In other words, the government is effectively 100% responsible. If we continue to freeze electricity rates at this level, the deficit could grow enormously."
He particularly pointed out, "On the one hand, by not raising electricity rates and keeping them tied to past levels, electricity consumption may continue to increase, or, for example, situations may arise where electricity is used instead of fuel oil. If that happens, losses could grow exponentially and become a serious problem."
President Lee added, "KEPCO’s debt is said to be 200 trillion won. This is not an easy situation, so I ask all citizens to take that into account and actively participate in energy conservation, especially in reducing electricity use."
Regarding the second-stage oil price cap system that will take effect from the 27th, he said, "I ask gas stations across the country to actively cooperate in setting prices in line with the intent of the system," and stressed, "Acts that exploit the community’s crisis to gain unfair profits through collusion or hoarding and cornering the market can never be tolerated, and the government will continue to respond strictly under a zero-tolerance policy."
He also called for swift implementation of the wartime supplementary budget and responsible administration. "Through our response measures and the wartime supplementary budget to be announced next week, we have largely put the overall framework of our response in place," President Lee said. "From now on, the quality of execution will be extremely important."
west@fnnews.com Reporter Seong Seok-woo and Reporter Choi Jong-geun