South Korean Government to Implement Price Cap on Gasoline Sales
It will be interesting to see if the government is going to reimburse these petrol stations if they are forced to sell gasoline at price that is not profitable for them:
Kim Yong-beom (L), the presidential chief of staff for policy, explains the outcome of President Lee Jae Myung’s meeting on the Middle East during a press briefing at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on March 9, 2026. (Yonhap)
The government plans to take steps to implement a capping system on local fuel prices this week, a senior presidential adviser said Monday, shortly after President Lee Jae Myung called for a swift launch of the system to contain a jump in gas prices as the U.S.-led war with Iran has intensified in the Middle East.
Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy, told reporters that specific measures were discussed at a meeting with relevant mininstries to “implement the price cap system to prevent abnormal pricing of petroleum products and improve price predictability.”
If implemented, it would mark the first time since 1997 that South Korea has enforced the system, using a provision in the Petroleum Business Act that allows the industry minister to designate a maximum sales price when oil prices fluctuate sharply and threaten economic stability.
Earlier in the day, Lee told an interministerial meeting that a swift implementation of fuel price cap is needed as the price of Brent oil to surge through US$100 per barrel.
You can read more at the link.
Joe Stalin and Richard Nixon were big on price controls, too… And they’re dead now… /sarc