Yoon: "All Ministries to Focus on Early Stabilization of Prices at 2% Range and Livelihood Security"

Causes of Price Increases: Strong International Oil and Agricultural Commodity Prices
Explanation of Generation-Specific Policies for Children, Youth, and Elderly

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 19th instructed, "All ministries must remain vigilant and make every effort to stabilize the people's livelihood through the early stabilization of inflation at the 2% level."

At the Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the same day, President Yoon stated, "Mobilize all policy measures such as revitalizing direct transactions of agricultural products, blocking collusive acts and unfair practices in distribution stages, and providing food vouchers to vulnerable groups."

After visiting the Nonghyup Hanaro Mart Yangjae branch the day before to check prices of agricultural and livestock products and food, President Yoon said, "I met many people who came grocery shopping and had many conversations. They said that recently, the prices of food items including fruits have risen, increasing the burden of shopping."

He continued, "Last month's inflation rate recorded 3.1% compared to the same period last year, slightly exceeding our government's target of managing inflation at the 2% level," adding, "The rise in inflation from 2% to 3% is mainly due to the strength in international oil prices and prices of agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables. It will be difficult for prices of fruits, which had poor harvests last year, and vegetables, which have supply disruptions due to adverse weather conditions in production areas in February, to fall in the short term."

Regarding the government's response, he said, "We will directly lower prices of fruits and vegetables including apples through price discount support, and swiftly increase substitute fruits through the application of tariff quotas and direct government imports," and added, "Our government is also benchmarking major countries' price stabilization measures and reflecting them in our policy formulation."

Earlier, at the Livelihood Economy Inspection Meeting held the previous day, President Yoon announced response measures including the immediate injection of 150 billion won in emergency agricultural and livestock price stabilization funds, inclusion of five items such as cherries and kiwis in the tariff reduction list for fruits, direct import of rapidly rising price items by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), and active response to market disruption and unfair practices.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In addition to inflation measures, President Yoon also introduced tailored policies for all generations including children, youth, and the elderly. Regarding the Neulbom School, which began full-scale operation this month, he emphasized, "Properly caring for and raising children is a constitutional duty of the president and government. For this, not only the central and local governments but also the entire social community must cooperate," and stressed, "The government will establish a platform for such cooperation and serve as a hub."

He reaffirmed the government's stance to invest its capabilities in elderly welfare as the country enters a super-aged society next year, with the proportion of the population aged 65 and over exceeding 20%. This year, the government raised the basic pension and expanded senior employment opportunities by the largest margin ever.

President Yoon said, "We are supporting daily life centered on senior centers with meals, exercise, and digital education, while expanding visiting doctors, care services, and nursing cost support. For unregistered senior centers, which had been welfare blind spots, we conducted a full survey in January to assess the situation and immediately provided safety inspections, heating costs, and grain expenses," promising, "We will actively promote policies to improve the quality of life for the elderly this year."

Regarding youth policies, he reiterated investments announced at the recent Livelihood Discussion, including expansion of national scholarships, income deduction for sports facility usage fees, and tax exemption for childbirth support funds. In particular, President Yoon said, "To push forward reforms for the people and build a country that the people desire, the power of youth, free from vested interests and cartel privileges, is essential," and urged, "All ministries and committees should responsibly ensure that youth aides can fully perform their roles as future think tanks."