Domestic fuel prices at record low; Lee thanks refiners and gas stations for cooperation

President Lee Jae Myung [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung said Monday that the government would expand its personnel, budget and organizational capacity to fully reclaim assets tied to pro-Japanese collaborators from the colonial era.

Lee made the pledge on his X account after sharing a news report about the government's latest recovery of land previously owned by Kim Han-gyu, a known pro-Japanese collaborator.

He added: "We must ensure that the saying — 'collaborate with Japan and your family prospers for three generations; join the independence movement and your family starves for three generations' — is never uttered again."

Lee also addressed domestic fuel prices, thanking the energy industry for keeping them among the lowest in the world. "I am grateful to the refiners and gas stations that are actively cooperating with government policy," he said.

The comment came as Lee shared a post on X from a user noting that South Korea had recorded the lowest rate of fuel price increases among major economies, alongside his own post titled "Why is South Korea able to manage fuel prices at the world's lowest level?"

Lee said the low prices were possible because "the government has been controlling the supply price and volume of refined products from refiners under the law, and the refiners have cooperated well." He added that the government was also supporting a stable crude oil supply and compensating refiners for the difference between production costs and the legally capped maximum price.

Lee noted that domestic refiners were earning relatively higher margins on exports than on their domestic supply.

He then extended particular thanks to what he called "exceptionally good-hearted gas stations" for their contribution to stabilizing pump prices, and urged the public to patronize them.


sang@heraldcorp.com