President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting with his senior secretaries at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)


President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that South Korea must rely on its own strength to protect its interests as the war in the Middle East deepens global uncertain 바다이야기꽁머니 ty amid what he described as an every-nation-for-itself world.
Lee underscored that building the country’s internal strength must begin with a crackdown on entrenched illicit practices at ho 한국릴게임 me across the board, including drug crimes, illegal real estate dealings and stock manipulation.
“The global economy is facing a vortex of upheaval as tensions escalate in the Middle East. U 야마토통기계 ncertainty in the global environment is growing significantly” Lee said during a meeting of senior secretaries and aides at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul.
Lee called for “pr 바다이야기사이트 eemptively managing and preventing risks that could affect people’s lives through swift and meticulous response at a critical time like this.”
Lee then instructed to “mobilize all available 바다이야기예시야마토게임 policy tools to minimize the impact of the Middle East situation on key livelihood-related sectors such as finance, energy and the real economy.”
“In an era of infinite competition where every nation fends for itself, and there are neither eternal enemies nor eternal friends, the only one that can help and save us is ourselves,” Lee said during the meeting.“Only when we do not rely on others and carve out our own destiny ourselves can we protect our national interests and strengthen our national power.”
Lee underscored that “efforts must underpin to normalize abnormal elements within our society in order to overcome the waves of crises coming from outside.”
“To this end, we must improve institutions across society to be fair, transparent and rational, and put an end to this abnormal era in which breaking the rules brings profit while following the rules leads to losses.”
“Above all, we must respond very strictly and firmly to antisocial wrongdoing that seeks to take unfair windfall profits by exploiting the difficulties of the community, such as price gouging on fuel,” Lee said.
Lee in particular called for "accelerating efforts to root out seven major forms of wrongdoing that have a significant impact on people’s daily lives."
The president cited drug crimes, public-sector corruption, voice phishing, illegal real estate activities, large-scale malicious tax delinquency, stock manipulation and serious industrial accidents.
“We must establish the perception that if someone is caught trying to obtain unjust gains, they will instead suffer economic losses so severe that recovery becomes impossible and that it could lead to their complete downfall.”
Lee once again took aim at fuel price gouging at gas stations despite no supply disruptions, echoing his criticisms at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting Thursday in which he instructed the introduction of a price ceiling system for gasoline and diesel.
Lee also noted that although the regulatory system is currently largely in place, it frequently fails to work properly and often falls short of operating as intended.
“We must thoroughly and properly enforce the existing systems, and if necessary, we should also hurry to improve the systems,” Lee said.
In a post on his X account, Lee also warned Friday that “collusive price manipulation was a grave crime against the people. You will soon learn how great the price is,” while linking to an article showing a rapid surge in gasoline and diesel prices since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East on Feb. 28.
“It seems some companies still do not realize that the barbaric era when they made huge money through illegal acts, inflicted pain on the public, and had their wrongdoing covered up through collusion with government officials and politicians is now over,” Lee said. “We will mobilize all legal means to ensure the normalization of what is abnormal in the economic sphere as well.”