Prime Minister Han Seong-sook stressed Tuesday that the government must place its top priority on controlling prices that burden ordinary people's lives, amid the prolonged Middle East situation.
Han made the remarks in her opening statement at the 14th Emergency Economic Review Meeting held at the Government Complex-Sejong that day.
"With the United States and Iran signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war and continuing working-level talks, international oil prices have fallen to pre-war levels, and expectations for stabilization of the Middle East situation are also growing," Han said. "But our economy is still in a crisis situation," she stressed. "In addition to high oil prices and a high exchange rate, the possibility of interest rate hikes by major countries is also increasing, so the government needs a close response."
Han added, "I ask you to make price stabilization the top priority above all else, by monitoring in real time the price trends of items closely tied to people's livelihoods and swiftly and boldly implementing tailored supply-and-demand measures." She said, "To protect vulnerable groups, we must also pay attention to eliminating welfare blind spots."
She also instructed, "In preparation for the stabilization of the Middle East situation, we must prepare measures to strengthen cooperation with the Middle East in advance," adding, "Please actively identify ways for us to contribute to post-war reconstruction efforts."
