President Moon: "We are fully committed to stabilizing the supply of diesel exhaust fluid... Citizens, please do not have excessive anxiety" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in recently addressed the shortage crisis of urea water solution, assuring that the government is making every effort to stabilize its supply and urging the public not to harbor excessive anxiety.

On the morning of the 9th, President Moon chaired a Cabinet meeting via video conference at the Blue House, stating, "For urgent needs, we will prioritize utilizing surplus in the public sector and make every effort to stabilize supply through emergency supply-demand adjustment measures."

President Moon emphasized, "Along with efforts to resolve import delays early, the government is also doing its best to discover alternative import sources, so I ask the public not to be overly anxious," highlighting that the government is mobilizing all diplomatic capabilities to secure overseas supplies.

This urea water solution crisis was triggered by supply chain instability originating from China. President Moon warned that supply chain disruptions could occur again in the future and urged efforts to build a system to manage not only urea water solution but also raw material supply issues. He said, "It is necessary to conduct a broader review of raw material supply issues arising from global supply chain changes," and added, "For items with excessively high import dependence on specific countries, thorough preliminary investigations and the establishment of meticulous management systems are requested."

He continued, "Until now, attention has been focused on strategic materials mainly in advanced technology sectors, but I ask that the scope of management be expanded to include items closely related to daily life, and that various measures such as export diversification, technological independence, and domestic production be devised."

He also stressed the importance of maintaining price targets amid the global inflation trend. President Moon said, "Please thoroughly prepare for inflationary pressures caused by global energy price increases and supply bottlenecks," and emphasized, "We will do our best to maintain our goal of managing prices stably in the low 2% range this year."

Regarding this, he stated, "Following the freeze on public utility rates and the expansion of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product supplies, starting this week, we will reduce the fuel tax by 20%," and added, "With the mindset that price stability is the first step toward stabilizing people’s livelihoods, I ask all ministries to make every possible effort."

He also requested efforts to manage the situation for the 'gradual return to daily life' that began earlier this month. President Moon said, "Many countries have started to recover daily life but are facing difficulties again, but we will do our best to manage the situation so that we can move toward a complete return to daily life without setbacks," and "if we unite with a mature sense of community, we can create a successful model for daily life recovery and complete K-quarantine."

He also expressed that he felt the 'rise in national prestige' during his European tour. President Moon said, "The 7-night, 9-day European tour was a hectic schedule but yielded considerable results. I felt the elevated status of Korea and repeatedly confirmed international support for peace on the Korean Peninsula," and added, "With the Visegr?d Group?Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland?which is growing most dynamically in Europe and has emerged as Korea’s largest investment destination, we greatly expanded economic cooperation to include science and technology, energy, and infrastructure."

He continued, "We have become a country recognized and envied by the world," and added, "The government will strive even harder to ensure that the rise in national prestige leads to an improvement in the quality of life for the people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.