Yoon: "Oil price instability due to production cuts by oil-producing countries... Energy supply and demand to be closely managed"

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 10th urged Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to "closely manage the energy supply situation and make thorough preparations for measures to support vulnerable groups." This was a directive for the government to prepare appropriate countermeasures following recent production cut decisions by major oil-producing countries.

On the same day, President Yoon held a regular meeting with Prime Minister Han at the Yongsan Presidential Office and said, "Last week, the decision by major oil-producing countries to cut production created instability in oil prices," delivering this instruction. Earlier, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the 'OPEC+' group, which includes Russia and other major non-OPEC oil producers, recently announced an additional production cut of 1.16 million barrels per day. As a result, forecasts suggest that international oil prices could rise by at least $10 per barrel.

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President Yoon also ordered a tough response to labor unions that refused to submit accounting documents. Presiding over the Senior Secretary Meeting, he stated, "Since establishing the rule of law between labor and management is the most important area of labor reform, thorough legal measures must be taken against the refusal to submit accounting documents."

Previously, the government requested labor unions to submit accounting documents to strengthen transparency in union finances. In February, the government asked 334 unions and federations, including the two major national labor unions, to report by the 15th on whether they had fulfilled their obligations to keep and preserve financial documents. Article 14 of the Labor Union Act states that "a labor union must prepare and keep at its office a list of members, bylaws, names and addresses of officers, meeting minutes, and financial books and documents within 30 days from the date of establishment."

At that time, President Yoon emphasized, "Transparency in union accounting is the starting point of union reform." This was in response to more than half of labor unions refusing to submit their accounting books, stating, "Reform cannot be achieved without ensuring accounting transparency."

Additionally, President Yoon told his aides on the same day to "prepare a national strategy meeting to strengthen competitiveness in secondary batteries and semiconductors." At the 14th Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting held on the 15th of last month, President Yoon also instructed, "Private investment in advanced industries such as semiconductors must be made swiftly, and the government must provide seamless support in R&D, workforce, and tax incentives."

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