Crisis Management Level Raised... Gas Stations Overcharging on Prices to Have Licenses Revoked

Democratic Party's Economic Response TF for the Middle East Crisis
Detailed Plan for Oil Reserve Release Announced
Supplementary Budget May Pass as Early as Early April

Assemblyman An Dogeol, secretary of the Democratic Party's Economic Response Task Force (TF) for the Middle East situation, announced on the 16th that "the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to officially raise the crisis management level from 'attention' to 'caution' this week, and will announce a detailed plan for releasing oil reserves."

After the second TF meeting held that morning at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, Assemblyman An met with reporters and stated, "The amount of oil reserves to be released in agreement with the International Energy Agency (IEA) is 22.46 million barrels. This will be released in stages over the next three months."

Lee Hyungil, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (right), and Kwon Daeyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, are discussing at the second meeting of the Democratic Party’s Task Force for Economic Response to the Middle East Crisis held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 16th. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

To secure energy supplies, the government plans for Korea National Oil Corporation to bring 3.35 million barrels produced and developed overseas into the country by June. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will lift the cap on coal power generation, which had limited output to 80% of facility capacity, and plans to complete early maintenance on a total of six nuclear power plants by mid-May.

Additionally, in order to make measures to stabilize prices, including fuel prices, more tangible at the consumer level, the government has introduced both 'carrot and stick' policies. Assemblyman An said, "Outstanding gas stations that contribute to price stability will be given incentives such as public recognition," adding, "Self-service gas stations and others that set excessively high prices will have their licenses revoked even after a single violation."

Furthermore, the government and the ruling party have decided to draw up an extra budget (supplementary budget) to respond to the Middle East situation as early as the beginning of April. Assemblyman An stated, "The goal is to submit the government proposal to the National Assembly by the end of March," and added, "If the review process in the National Assembly proceeds quickly, it could pass within 10 days."

Meanwhile, Kim Yongbeom, policy chief at the Blue House, posted on Facebook that "for the first time since 1997, we are overseeing a maximum oil price system and coordinating the fastest supplementary budget formulation in history, while continuing emergency countermeasure meetings over the weekend."

Kim explained, "Even as oil prices and bond yields fluctuate, the fact that extreme fear is not being reflected in prices shows that the market is interpreting the current situation as 'managed tension.'"

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