President Lee Orders Price Stabilization, Stern Punishments for Market Cornering

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday instructed officials to take prompt action to stabilize consumer prices while calling for stern punishments for those accused of market cornering.

The president issued the order at a Cabinet meeting, pointing out that the prolonged conflict in the Middle East is weighing heavily on consumer prices and the public.

Lee urged related ministries to "promptly implement necessary measures" to stabilize prices, including the preemptive release of government stockpiles and discount programs, adding that "significant" upward pressure on prices persists despite the government's cap on oil prices and other measures.

"If price increases continue, their impact on (economically) vulnerable groups will be inevitably greater ... eventually leading to (greater) polarization and weakening economic vitality," Lee noted.

"Without price stability, there can be no economic growth, improvement in polarization or sustainable national development," the president added.

The country's consumer prices increased 3.1 percent from a year earlier in May, marking the sharpest on-year growth in 26 months, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said earlier Tuesday.

Global energy price volatility was cited as one of the primary reasons for the sharp increase amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The president, in particular, warned against market cornering, price-fixing and other forms of market manipulation, instructing officials to pursue rigorous investigations and stern punishment so as to make offenders realize that such practices may very well jeopardize their entire business.

"I urge each ministry to make its utmost effort with the determination that managing prices is the core prerequisite for stabilizing people's livelihoods," the president told the meeting.

Marking the first anniversary of his inauguration on Thursday, Lee vowed to focus on making tangible improvements to people's lives and to accelerate the implementation of polices aimed at balanced regional development and reducing economic polarization.

"If we double the pace of state affairs and do our utmost over the next four years, we could work like it were eight years," Lee said.

"Through such efforts, (we) will bring about greater changes to people's lives and to the Republic of Korea," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.

He vowed to achieve "growth for all" by pursuing measures for balanced regional development to ease polarization, while also seeking to elevate the country's role as a global diplomatic and security leader.

The president also instructed officials to conduct a prompt investigation into a deadly explosion at a Hanwha Aerospace plant in Daejeon the previous day, which left five people dead and two others injured.

The president extended his condolences to the victims, ordering authorities to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and devise measures to prevent a recurrence, while calling for safety inspections of similar facilities.

Additionally, President Lee called for institutional reforms to help restructure debt for individuals, pointing to cases of entire families committing suicide under mounting debt pressure.

"I wish an organization could be established that (people could) report to when they are overwhelmed by debt," Lee said, stressing the need for an entity in charge of debt restructuring for individuals.

"Individual debt, too, should be managed systematically, since long-overdue debts held by financial institutions are already being managed systematically," he noted.