President Lee Jae-myung said he could invoke an "emergency fiscal and economic decree" to respond to the crisis stemming from the prolonged war in the Middle East. He emphasized his determination to swiftly address the energy supply crunch and the triple threat of high prices, high oil costs and a weak won by mobilizing all available powers. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea backed the president, calling the emergency decree "a tool to protect people's daily lives," while the opposition People Power Party (PPP) fired back, labeling it "a political show that ignores constitutional procedures."
President Lee raised the possibility of an emergency fiscal and economic decree during a Cabinet meeting on May 31, while discussing the energy crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict. "We don't need to be bound by existing conventions. A more proactive and aggressive response is needed. If necessary, we should legislate and deploy our authority and capabilities to the fullest," he said. "If needed, we could utilize the emergency fiscal decree provided for in the Constitution."
The emergency fiscal decree is an exclusive presidential power stipulated in Article 76 of the Constitution. The provision allows the president to issue orders with the force of law when urgent measures are required due to "internal turmoil, external threats, natural disasters, or a grave fiscal and economic crisis" and there is no time to wait for National Assembly procedures.
The provision has been invoked only twice in history — the "Emergency Decree on Economic Stabilization and Growth" (the August 3 Economic Measures) in 1972 under the Park Chung-hee administration and the "Emergency Decree on Real-Name Financial Transactions and Confidentiality" under the Kim Young-sam government in 1993. President Lee's mention of the emergency fiscal decree is interpreted as an effort to highlight that all possible policy tools can be mobilized in an emergency.
Kang Yu-jeong, the presidential spokesperson, explained, "Looking at the full context, the president was telling bureaucrats not to be bound by convention and to come up with proactive and autonomous alternatives for solutions." She added, "He cited the emergency fiscal and economic decree as one example of the extraordinary measures that could be prepared through such alternatives for an emergency response." This suggested he did not have a specific action in mind at the time.
