President Lee Jae-myung on the 1st instructed Kim Sung-hwan, Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, "not to limit the quantity of garbage bag purchases."
Kang Yu-jeong, Senior Spokesperson of Cheong Wa Dae, said in a written briefing after the emergency economic review meeting that President Lee gave the instruction after receiving a report on the supply and demand situation for garbage bags. The senior spokesperson added that President Lee also instructed the ministry to "coordinate across regions, as the quantity of garbage bags held varies by local government."
President Lee further instructed the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate efforts to ensure 26 vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and to negotiate and report back on enabling shipping companies to transport crude oil through the Red Sea if they wish to do so.
He also referred to fake news circulating that distorted his remarks at the previous day's Cabinet meeting — where he said the government could utilize "emergency fiscal orders" — into claims that the government would forcibly sell dollars. President Lee called such acts "extremely harmful in a time of extraordinary crisis" and urged the Minister of Finance and Economy to respond sternly.
Senior Spokesperson Kang added that President Lee emphasized that all ministries and agencies must act more proactively and preemptively with an "all-court press" mindset in the face of the national crisis.