Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Monday instructed relevant ministries to ensure thorough implementation of additional supply stabilization measures, including this week's planned release of vehicle urea reserves and the setting of a fourth-round maximum oil price, amid the economic situation stemming from the Middle East crisis.
"As uncertainty in the Middle East region continues, the government will firmly maintain the current emergency response system," Kim said while chairing a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic headquarters meeting at the Government Complex in Seoul. He issued the instructions to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and other relevant ministries.
Regarding the wartime supplementary budget, Kim said, "The lifeline of a supplementary budget is speed." He added, "I ask the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to carefully check the supplementary budget formulation status of 243 local governments so that the budgets for 20 projects, including support for damages from high oil prices, can be swiftly executed."
Kim also said, "Central and local governments should thoroughly inspect facilities under their jurisdiction during the two-month inspection period and immediately implement necessary supplementary measures." He instructed, "With the Ministry of the Interior and Safety taking the lead, relevant ministries should provide special management for summer disaster-related facilities such as underground roadways, semi-basement housing, residences, and landslide-threatened areas."
On the situation at the National Assembly, Kim said, "Of the 341 key bills that must be processed by the first half of the year, including the Materials, Parts and Equipment Act and the Jeonse Fraud Victim Support Act, 217 have yet to be processed at the National Assembly." He added, "I ask Cabinet members to continue efforts by personally visiting each lawmaker to secure cooperation for the passage of the bills."
