At the Jeongmu Committee Full Meeting
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Cho Sung-wook, Chairman of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, said on the 9th that he "wants to emphasize that we are taking the hoarding concerns regarding urea water very seriously."
On that day, Chairman Cho responded this way to a point raised by Kim Hee-gon, a member of the People Power Party, during the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee plenary session.
Rep. Kim pointed out, "The shortage of urea water has caused chaos on secondhand sites," adding, "It is being traded at prices nearly 10 times higher, and hoarding activities are occurring."
In response, Chairman Cho said, "I understand that many people are facing difficulties related to urea water, and there are concerns about logistics disruptions such as with freight trucks," and added, "We will seriously consider how the Fair Trade Commission can cooperate on this matter and discuss it with other government departments."
The government implemented the "Notice on Prohibition of Hoarding of Catalysts (Urea Water) and Its Raw Material Urea" starting from midnight on the 8th, after going through the Ministry of Government Legislation and regulatory review, to prevent profiteering hoarding and sales avoidance of urea water and its raw material urea due to sudden changes in supply and demand. Based on this, the government is cracking down on hoarding through a joint inspection team that includes the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which are responsible for compliance with urea water manufacturing standards; the Fair Trade Commission, which handles price collusion of urea water; and the National Tax Service, which can verify the status of urea water inflow, inventory, outflow, and purchase and sales channels.
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