Government and PPP Claim It Is Inevitable to Raise Electricity and Gas Prices and Will Release Final Plan Before April 1

Park Dae-chul, chair of the People Power Party (PPP) policy committee speaks at a meeting of the ruling PPP and the government on electricity and gas prices at the National Assembly on the afternoon of March 29. Yonhap News

On March 29, the People Power Party (PPP) and the government agreed that raising the price of gas and electricity was unavoidable.

Park Dae-chul, chief of the People Power Party policy committee, met with reporters immediately after a government and ruling party meeting on utility prices at the National Assembly Wednesday and said, “In the case of KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation), they have to shoulder more than 3.8 billion won a day in interest, and in the case of the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), they face over 1.2 billion won a day in interest,” and emphasized the inevitability of price hikes.

Park explained that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy presented multiple ideas on utility price hikes and said, “There was no difference in the views of the government and the party that minimizing the burden on the citizens was top priority.” However, he explained that they also had to consider the continuing downward trend in international energy prices this year, particularly, liquified natural gas (LNG) and soft coal, as a major factor in utility price hikes and said, “So the party strongly asked the government to carefully review when to raise prices and how much to raise them after considering these elements.” He also explained that the party asked the government to draw up a final draft before April 1, when the second quarter electricity and gas prices will be applied.

The PPP policy chief also mentioned measures for people vulnerable to energy price hikes. He said, “There were some discussions, and one person pointed out that support for such vulnerable people could be somewhat lacking. So we plan to improve this area.”

Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang mentioned that working-level discussions had been ongoing inside the ministry and said, “We will draw up a draft before April 1 after comprehensively considering the party’s request to minimize the burden on citizens as well as measures to ensure a sustainable system for long-term energy supply.”

Those who attended the meeting argued that the incumbent government was forced to raise prices because the previous government failed to implement timely price hikes for electricity and gas. Park Dae-chul said, “This meeting was held to solve the gas and electricity bill that the Moon Jae-in government’s rash move to phase out nuclear power left behind,” and argued, “It is common knowledge that KEPCO’s financial burden increased because the previous government’s hasty move away from nuclear power lowered the use of nuclear power plants and forced the nation to resort to power sourced by expensive fuel, such as LNG.” He continued his attacks and said, “The Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung called for a complete reexamination of the second quarter electricity price hike. It is a typical example of populism.” He also said, “The PPP and the Yoon Suk-yeol government will do our utmost to come up with Solomon’s solution that can minimize the burden on the people’s lives and ensure a stable supply of energy.”

The energy minister also accused the previous government of failing to raise the energy prices at the right time resulting in the large amount of accumulated arrearages and losses of public energy corporations. He said, “We need to normalize prices after extensively considering the burden on the people and the financial situation of our public energy corporations.”

Those who attended the meeting of the ruling PPP and the government Wednesday included Park Dae-chul; Yoo Sung-kull, the PPP secretary in the Strategy and Finance Committee; and Han Moo-kyung, the party’s secretary in the Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee from the PPP and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang, Second Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Park Il-jun, and First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Bang Ki-sun from the government.