President Lee Warns Syringe Hoarders: "Severe Punishment for Anti-Social Acts... Let's Live Together"

by Song Seungseop

Published 25 Apr.2026 16:51(KST)

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Korea-Vietnam Business Forum held at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the 23rd (local time). 2026.4.23 Yonhap News Agency

On April 25, President Lee Jae-myung issued a stern warning regarding the discovery of "hoarding and price-gouging" by syringe distributors, stating, "Such anti-social behavior that exploits a community crisis to worsen the situation and make a profit will be severely punished."

President Lee made these remarks while sharing a related news article on his X account (formerly Twitter) that day. He added, "I have instructed the Cabinet to take all possible follow-up measures, including continued crackdowns, swift investigations and severe punishment for any detected violations, as well as the maximum possible administrative sanctions." President Lee also commented, "What's the point of living well alone? Let's live together."

On April 24, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that it had carried out a special crackdown on syringe distributors nationwide from the 20th to the 22nd, uncovering 32 companies engaged in hoarding and price-gouging. Some companies were found to have stockpiled as many as 130,000 syringes without selling them, or had supplied 59 times their average sales volume to certain clients.