Icheon City Launches Emergency Management Amid Prolonged Middle East War... Full Efforts to Protect Livelihoods and Farmers

Icheon City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Kyunghee) has activated an emergency response system and is making every effort to protect the local economy in response to high oil prices and supply chain crises stemming from instability in the Middle East.

On the 17th, Icheon City held the "Icheon City Emergency Countermeasures Meeting" at the large conference room on the 3rd floor of the Icheon City Health Center to assess the impact on the regional economy due to the prolonged Middle East war and to prepare countermeasures. Provided by Icheon City

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Icheon City announced on April 17 that it held the "Icheon City Emergency Measures Report Meeting" in the large conference room on the 3rd floor of the Icheon City Health Center to assess the impact of the prolonged Middle East war on the local economy and to prepare countermeasures.

This report meeting was convened following Mayor Kim Kyunghee’s directive to develop a comprehensive plan for stabilizing livelihoods in response to deteriorating external economic conditions, such as rising international oil prices, increased logistics costs, and supply chain instability due to unrest in the Middle East. Presided over by Deputy Mayor Park Jonggeun, the meeting reviewed the impact of rising oil prices on local livelihoods, small business owners, and exporters, and discussed various countermeasures to protect companies, small businesses, and vulnerable groups in the region.

In addition to Deputy Mayor Park Jonggeun, department heads and senior officials attended the report meeting to review the impact of the prolonged Middle East war on the local economy and to share the status and response measures of each department. Participants also closely examined the progress of measures by sector and had broad discussions on future response tasks.

During the report meeting, a total of 51 policy initiatives across seven sectors were reported (▲8 on oil prices and energy stabilization, ▲8 on public utility fee management, ▲2 on price stabilization, ▲8 on support for vulnerable groups, ▲11 on corporate support, ▲11 on consumption promotion and local economic revitalization, ▲3 on other issues).

Key measures include: ▲in the corporate support sector, expanding logistics cost support for export companies, linking business stabilization funds, and operating a corporate grievance reporting center; ▲in the consumption promotion and local economic revitalization sector, expanding consumption support funds for small businesses and promoting business environment improvement projects; ▲in the oil price and energy stabilization sector, implementing a biweekly driving restriction system for public institution vehicles and operating a petroleum hoarding reporting center; ▲in the public utility fee management sector, freezing or reducing water, sewage, and transportation fees; ▲stabilizing supply and maintaining prices of pay-as-you-throw garbage bags; ▲in the price stabilization sector, stabilizing the supply of food and agricultural materials; ▲in the support for vulnerable groups sector, providing heating and cooling cost support for low-income households, strengthening care services and emergency welfare, and expanding free meal and livelihood support.

Deputy Mayor Park Jonggeun stated, "With the prolonged instability in the Middle East leading to rising international oil prices and increased logistics costs, external uncertainties are expected to have an increasingly significant impact on the local economy," and directed that "the situation in the Middle East and international oil price fluctuations must be monitored continuously, and preemptive measures should be taken to stabilize livelihoods, focusing on vulnerable sectors in preparation for sustained high oil prices and economic slowdown."

Aerial view of Icheon City Hall. Provided by Icheon City

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The Icheon Agricultural Technology Center (Director Kim Dongho) announced that it will implement a pilot project to distribute groundwater heat pumps and other energy-saving agricultural technologies to greenhouse farmers, in response to rising international oil prices and environmental changes such as abnormal weather.

A heat pump is a high-efficiency heating system that uses external heat sources to transfer and amplify heat. It operates by absorbing natural heat from groundwater, air, or geothermal sources, raising the temperature through refrigerant compression, and releasing it inside the facility.

In particular, it is environmentally friendly as it does not directly use fossil fuels and offers high heating efficiency compared to the same amount of energy input.

This project is being carried out as part of the "Greenhouse Environmental Improvement Pilot Project." The city plans to install groundwater heat pumps in greenhouses to verify the effects on heating cost reduction and operational stability. Through this, it aims to move away from the existing kerosene-based heating systems and achieve both energy cost savings and greenhouse gas reduction.

In facility agriculture, heating costs during winter account for a significant portion of total management expenses. Therefore, this project is expected to help alleviate the management burden on farmers.

An official from the Icheon Agricultural Technology Center stated, "Given the increased volatility of energy prices due to international instability and climate change, it is essential to introduce technologies that improve energy efficiency in the agricultural sector," adding, "Utilizing groundwater heat pumps is an important alternative that not only saves energy but also contributes to building a foundation for eco-friendly agriculture."

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