Korean Farmers Struggle as Middle East Conflict Drives Heating Oil Prices Up

"Oil prices are soaring day after day, but customers coming to buy strawberries have completely dried up. Farms like ours can't hold on much longer."

On the morning of the 9th, at a greenhouse in Joan-myeon, Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, opening the door released a wave of hot air accompanied by a humming sound. A drum-shaped hot air heater was running continuously. Kim Hyo-jun, 58, who operates a 500-pyeong (approximately 1,650 square meters) strawberry experience farm, said, "Monthly heating costs that used to be 1 million won have recently risen to 1.5 million won. Growing strawberries is extremely difficult because even a slight drop in temperature reduces their marketability." Indeed, throughout the farm Kim pointed to, green strawberries with delayed growth were hanging on the vines.

The thermometer inside the greenhouse read 21 degrees Celsius. Strawberries require optimal growing temperatures of 20 degrees during the day and 8-10 degrees at night for proper pollination. This is why Kim must refuel the heater with kerosene daily. Looking in the direction Kim turned, bumblebees could be seen moving between strawberry flowers. Kim said, "I've borrowed bumblebees needed for strawberry pollination. At low temperatures, bumblebee activity drops by 50%, so even though kerosene is expensive, I have no choice but to grit my teeth and run the heater all night."

Installing insulation curtains or water curtain systems could reduce heating costs, but for those who have operated farms for decades, it remains a pipe dream. Kim said, "Young people starting smart farms can relatively easily receive government support. For people like us who have been running greenhouse farms for a long time, government support is hard to obtain, so we can't even dream of reinvesting in equipment."

Like farms, the floriculture industry, where maintaining indoor temperature is crucial, has not escaped the impact of the Middle East oil price surge. A florist in his 60s, surnamed Lee, who has been selling foliage plants and fresh flowers for 30 years in Sano-dong, Guri City, Gyeonggi Province, sighed while looking at his depleted coal briquette supply. The greenhouse temperature was 14.7 degrees Celsius. Foliage plants require a minimum of 15 degrees. The figure fell short of the standard. Lee said, "Hearing everyone say oil prices have risen so much, I've been conserving coal briquettes too. I should be burning 32 briquettes a day, but I've cut back to 24 since a month ago." He added, "I buy plants from wholesalers, and plant prices have risen because kerosene prices went up. With the economy struggling and flower consumption declining, it's not easy to raise selling prices either." Lee explained, "Compared to two years ago, my sales have dropped by 50%. Sales have plummeted so much that my taxes have decreased, and the tax office has even called to express suspicion."

However, with the prolonged tensions between the United States and Iran, there are no signs of oil prices stabilizing. According to Opinet, the Korea National Oil Corporation's oil price information system, the average retail price of indoor heating oil at domestic gas stations was 1,534.25 won per liter as of the 8th of this month. This represents an increase of 220.37 won from 1,313.88 won on the 28th of last month, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran.

The presidential office has announced measures including expanding fuel tax cuts and implementing price caps to address the situation. Law enforcement agencies have also launched crackdowns on illegal activities exploiting oil prices. Park Jung-bo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated at a regular press conference held that day that police would begin cracking down on illegal activities such as oil price collusion in preparation for possible international oil price fluctuations due to the Middle East situation. The police have formed a "Task Force to Eradicate Crimes Disrupting Consumer Prices" under the National Police Agency, operating it across metropolitan and provincial police agencies nationwide.