Lee orders retention of oil price caps until price uncertainty completely recedes

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during meeting with his senior aides at a hotel in Brasilia, Sunday (local time). Yonhap

BRASILIA — President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday instructed senior officials to maintain oil price caps until price uncertainty completely recedes, citing the renewed confrontation in the Middle East.

"Amid the high likelihood that oil prices will remain volatile for some time, preemptive efforts should be made promptly to minimize their impact on domestic prices," Lee said in a meeting with his senior aides, attending the meeting virtually from Brasilia where he is making a state visit.

The president also instructed officials to maintain other related measures, such as oil tax cuts, saying further action should be considered if the situation worsens.

The president's remarks came as the renewed conflict in the Middle East pushed global oil prices to around $100 per barrel for the first time since May.

The Seoul government introduced fuel price caps in mid-March in a bid to stabilize domestic fuel prices amid supply chain disruptions driven by the conflict in the Middle East.

"If the situation worsens, further measures should be proactively considered to ease the burden on people's livelihoods," the president told the meeting, citing truck drivers, heavy equipment operators, farmers and migrant workers as those especially vulnerable to high oil prices.

Lee, in particular, instructed officials to thoroughly scrutinize market irregularities, such as market cornering or price-fixing involving goods essential to people's livelihoods, as he called for efforts to help keep prices stable.