Cabbage 2200t and Sun-dried Salt 1000t Supplied... Choo Kyung-ho "Full Effort to Stabilize Everyday Prices"

The government will supply a total of 2,200 tons of napa cabbage starting this week and sell 1,000 tons of solar salt at half price.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho stated at the 'Ministerial Meeting on Stabilizing Living Costs' held at the Government Seoul Office on the 17th, "Since the beginning of this month, with temperatures dropping sharply, the decline in vegetable prices has been slow, and uncertainty in agricultural product prices continues."

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "We will prepare for the possibility of growth inhibition due to low temperatures by providing free medicines and nutritional supplements, and will focus on supplying 2,200 tons of napa cabbage over two weeks starting this week." He added, "Regarding solar salt, the government plans to supply a total of 1,000 tons at a 50% discounted price starting at the end of this month."

Tariff quotas will also be promoted for new imports such as mangoes and skimmed and whole milk powder. Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "We will introduce a 20,000-ton tariff quota for mackerel starting at the end of this month as much as possible, and support up to a 30% discount on 12 agricultural products with unstable prices, including napa cabbage, green onions, and apples, starting from the 19th." From next week, support for discounted sales of newly harvested rice will also begin. The government has already been offering up to 60% discounts on seafood such as pollock, mackerel, yellow croaker, and squid since the 12th.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is delivering opening remarks at the Price Stabilization Meeting of Related Ministries held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 17th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Deputy Prime Minister Choo stated, "For petroleum products, we will extend the fuel tax reduction and fuel price-linked subsidies until the end of the year, and form a joint inspection team across ministries to strengthen on-site inspections to prevent price hikes exploiting increased volatility in international oil prices."

The government explained that since inflation peaked at 6.3% in July last year, it has generally maintained a stable trend, with core inflation staying in the low 3% range and service inflation falling to the 2% range last month, showing a steady slowdown. However, recent rises in international oil prices and worsening weather conditions have again expanded inflation uncertainty.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo analyzed, "Since the end of September, international oil prices have shown some signs of stabilization, and gasoline and diesel prices turned to a downward trend last week for the first time in 14 weeks. However, due to the recent Israel-Hamas conflict, oil prices have fluctuated sharply, increasing inflation uncertainty."

He added, "The government will maintain heightened vigilance and make every effort to stabilize prices affecting ordinary citizens by having all ministries closely monitor and respond to price changes in their respective sectors."

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