President Lee urges action to stabilize prices, demands punishment of market manipulation

President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday instructed officials to take prompt action to stabilize consumer prices and called for stern punishment for those accused of market cornering.

The president issued the order at a Cabinet meeting, noting that the prolonged Iran war is weighing heavily on consumer prices and the public.

Lee urged related ministries to "promptly implement necessary measures" to stabilize prices, including the preemptive release of government stockpiles and discount programs, adding that "significant" upward price pressure persists despite the government's cap on oil prices and other measures.

"If price increases continue, their impact on [economically] vulnerable groups will be inevitably greater [...] eventually leading to [greater] polarization and weakening economic vitality," Lee noted.

"Without price stability, there can be no economic growth, improvement in polarization or sustainable national development," the president added.

The president, in particular, warned against market cornering, price-fixing, and other forms of market manipulation, instructing officials to pursue rigorous investigations and impose stern punishment to make offenders realize that such practices may very well jeopardize their entire businesses.

"I urge each ministry to make its utmost effort with the determination that managing prices is the core prerequisite for stabilizing people's livelihoods," the president told the meeting.

Marking the first anniversary of his inauguration on Thursday, Lee vowed to focus on making tangible improvements in people's lives and accelerating the implementation of policies to promote balanced regional development and reduce economic polarization.

"If we double the pace of state affairs and do our utmost over the next four years, we could work like it were eight years," Lee said.

"Through such efforts, (we) will bring about greater changes to people's lives and to the Republic of Korea," he added, referring to Korea by its official name.

He vowed to achieve "growth for all" by pursuing measures for balanced regional development to ease polarization, while also seeking to elevate the country's role as a global diplomatic and security leader.

The president also instructed officials to conduct a prompt investigation into a deadly explosion at a Hanwha Aerospace plant in Daejeon the previous day, which left five people dead and two others injured.

The president extended his condolences to the victims, ordered authorities to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and devise measures to prevent a recurrence and called for safety inspections of similar facilities.

Yonhap