Korea JoongAng Daily - Daily News from Korea

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

Kim Chae-min, a 34-year-old newlywed trying to conceive, has made meat and fish staples of her diet while putting her husband on a decidedly greener regimen.

Believe it or not, even sex is scheduled with precision. Their goal? Having a baby, and it "has to be a girl," in Kim's words.

Lists promising ways to conceive baby girls are now ubiquitous across Korean social media, with Korean couples increasingly favoring daughters, a sharp cultural turn in a country once known for its deeply entrenched preference for sons.

Doctors and practitioners of traditional Korean medicine have even introduced supposedly "scientific" tactics to encourage conceiving daughters, such as placing smartphones near the man's body.

In fact, Korea ranked as the No. 1 country in daughter preference in a survey by Gallup International of roughly 45,000 people across 44 countries at the end of 2024, which asked whether respondents would prefer a boy, a girl, or no preference if they could have only one child.

Some 28 percent of Koreans said they preferred to have a daughter, ahead of Japan, Spain and the Philippines at 26 percent and Bangladesh at 24 percent. By comparison, only 15 percent of Koreans said they preferred having a son, with the remaining respondents stating they had no preference. It's a striking reversal over just three decades, as the same survey conducted in 1992 showed that 58 percent of Koreans preferred a son over a daughter.

Q. Why does it have to be a girl?

For many young couples, the answer is instinctive rather than ideological. Daughters, they say, stay closer — they call more, notice more, stay more emotionally present.

Sons are often described, half-jokingly, as harder to read and easier to drift away.

There is also a practical layer. In many households, child care is supported by the wife's parents. Family life often runs through the maternal line — so a daughter feels more like continuity and less like departure.

Overall, women show a strong preference for daughters: In the Gallup survey, nearly half of Korean women in their 30s and 40s said they would choose a daughter.

The old case for sons in Korea was mostly practical — children were expected to support aging parents financially. But that assumption has faded sharply, and today, few parents expect any financial support at all. Their expectations have instead shifted elsewhere, toward emotional closeness.

"Young people's economic capacity is too weak for parents to expect any financial support anymore," said Prof. Kim Yun-tae, who teaches public sociology at Korea University. "That removes the old reason for preferring sons. What remains is emotional connection like daughters who check in more often, talk more, stay closer."

In a survey by Hanyang University on 125 primary caregivers of dementia patients in 2023, 82.4 percent were women, compared to just 17.6 percent men. Similarly, daughters made up the largest share of family caregivers at 42.4 percent, ahead of daughters-in-law at 16.8 percent, who even surpass the families' own sons at 15.2 percent.

Are there other social issues at play? Like low birth rates?

Yes, it also ties directly into Korea's deeper demographic problem of low birthrates. As more young couples decide to have only one child — or none at all — the "if it's just one, make it a girl" mindset becomes more pronounced.

Korea's fertility rate fell to 0.8 in 2025, among the lowest in the world.

Around 62 percent of adults of 1,000 people agreed that "having at least one daughter is necessary" compared to 36 percent for sons in a 2024 Hankook Research survey.

"I wasn't even sure I wanted kids, but my husband and I decided on one, and now, we're just hoping it's a girl," said Yoo, a 32-year-old engineer in Gyeonggi. "I won't have a second baby for sure — and I keep hesitating in case it turns out to be a boy."

Another factor is how much family life itself has changed. Unlike in the past, whe...

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

Kim Chae-min, a 34-year-old newlywed trying to conceive, has made meat and fish staples of her diet while putting her husband on a decidedly greener regimen.

Believe it or not, even sex is scheduled with precision. Their goal? Having a baby, and it "has to be a girl," in Kim's words.

Lists promising ways to conceive baby girls are now ubiquitous across Korean social media, with Korean couples increasingly favoring daughters, a sharp cultural turn in a country once known for its deeply entrenched preference for sons.

Doctors and practitioners of traditional Korean medicine have even introduced supposedly "scientific" tactics to encourage conceiving daughters, such as placing smartphones near the man's body.

In fact, Korea ranked as the No. 1 country in daughter preference in a survey by Gallup International of roughly 45,000 people across 44 countries at the end of 2024, which asked whether respondents would prefer a boy, a girl, or no preference if they could have only one child.

Some 28 percent of Koreans said they preferred to have a daughter, ahead of Japan, Spain and the Philippines at 26 percent and Bangladesh at 24 percent. By comparison, only 15 percent of Koreans said they preferred having a son, with the remaining respondents stating they had no preference. It's a striking reversal over just three decades, as the same survey conducted in 1992 showed that 58 percent of Koreans preferred a son over a daughter.

Q. Why does it have to be a girl?

For many young couples, the answer is instinctive rather than ideological. Daughters, they say, stay closer — they call more, notice more, stay more emotionally present.

Sons are often described, half-jokingly, as harder to read and easier to drift away.

There is also a practical layer. In many households, child care is supported by the wife's parents. Family life often runs through the maternal line — so a daughter feels more like continuity and less like departure.

Overall, women show a strong preference for daughters: In the Gallup survey, nearly half of Korean women in their 30s and 40s said they would choose a daughter.

The old case for sons in Korea was mostly practical — children were expected to support aging parents financially. But that assumption has faded sharply, and today, few parents expect any financial support at all. Their expectations have instead shifted elsewhere, toward emotional closeness.

"Young people's economic capacity is too weak for parents to expect any financial support anymore," said Prof. Kim Yun-tae, who teaches public sociology at Korea University. "That removes the old reason for preferring sons. What remains is emotional connection like daughters who check in more often, talk more, stay closer."

In a survey by Hanyang University on 125 primary caregivers of dementia patients in 2023, 82.4 percent were women, compared to just 17.6 percent men. Similarly, daughters made up the largest share of family caregivers at 42.4 percent, ahead of daughters-in-law at 16.8 percent, who even surpass the families' own sons at 15.2 percent.

Are there other social issues at play? Like low birth rates?

Yes, it also ties directly into Korea's deeper demographic problem of low birthrates. As more young couples decide to have only one child — or none at all — the "if it's just one, make it a girl" mindset becomes more pronounced.

Korea's fertility rate fell to 0.8 in 2025, among the lowest in the world.

Around 62 percent of adults of 1,000 people agreed that "having at least one daughter is necessary" compared to 36 percent for sons in a 2024 Hankook Research survey.

"I wasn't even sure I wanted kids, but my husband and I decided on one, and now, we're just hoping it's a girl," said Yoo, a 32-year-old engineer in Gyeonggi. "I won't have a second baby for sure — and I keep hesitating in case it turns out to be a boy."

Another factor is how much family life itself has changed. Unlike in the past, whe...

This article is by Shin Ha-nee and read by an artificial voice.

BTS's arrival in Mexico looked more like a state occasion than a routine tour stop.

The septet stood alongside Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum on the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City on Wednesday — a day before its first concert in the country as part of its "Arirang" world tour — and greeted some 50,000 fans who had gathered below.

Mexico has long been home to one of BTS's strongest markets outside Asia and North America, as well as a general powerhouse for K-pop's spread and consumption across Latin America, and the group's popularity in the country was reflected in the overwhelming crowd.

In fact, all three shows at Estadio GNP Seguros — the second and third taking place on Saturday and Sunday — sold out almost immediately, prompting Sheinbaum to ask Korean President Lee Jae Myung if additional dates in the country could be arranged.

Other data related to Mexico's relationship with BTS demonstrates why the band's arrival in Mexico City took on the scale of a national event.

Mexico City was the city that listened to BTS the most on Spotify during March — the month that the group returned from a nearly 4-year hiatus — with 714,212 listeners, followed by Jakarta, Indonesia, and São Paulo, Brazil, according to the local outlet LatiNation. BTS drew around 37 million monthly listeners worldwide during the period.

The Mexico City Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism estimated that the shows at Estadio GNP Seguros would generate 1.86 billion pesos ($107.6 million) in economic activity, including ticket sales and spending on accommodations, food and services. "BTS World Tour 'Arirang' in Goyang: Live Viewing" concert film also generated about 48.1 million pesos at the local box office.

Such figures point to a market in which BTS is not simply an imported pop act but a major cultural and economic force, one large enough to draw presidential attention.

What, then, made a Korean boy band from half a world away resonate so powerfully in Mexico?

For Mitzy Minerva, a devoted BTS fan from Mexico, the answer lies in communication.

"The connection between [BTS] and its fans is different [from that of other musicians]," she said when asked what made BTS special for her. "For example, one of my favorite artists is [British singer] Robbie Williams, but he wouldn't communicate with fans [as BTS does] through Weverse." Weverse is a K-pop fan community platform.

Her comment points to a quality that sets K-pop acts apart from their Western counterparts. Beyond its polished production for both its music and performances, K-pop is built around a sense of community and intimacy, encouraging people to be not merely fans but active participants in the artists' journey.

In Latin America, the appeal has been amplified by highly active fan communities — which have played a central role in promoting K-pop and making it more accessible through translations, dance covers, fan-made content and streaming campaigns — led by the comparatively large and social media-savvy youth populations in Mexico and the broader Latin America region .

According to Statista data published in December last year, Mexico had nearly 90 million social media users, and the percentage of the population actively using social media reached nearly 84 percent, making it one of the world's largest markets for social media platforms.

The country also has one of the region's longest histories of exposure to Korean content, beginning with films and dramas in the 1990s, according to Lim Su-jin, a professor in the Department of Spanish Language and Latin American Studies at Daegu Catholic University.

BTS, however, helped change how K-pop and Korea as a whole are perceived in Mexico, according to Lim.

"K-pop had been popular even before BTS, but it wasn't as widely loved across different demographics as it is now," she said. "K-pop, once considered a minor subculture, has helped change perceptions not ...

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the Trump administration's newly imposed 10 percent global tariffs on all trading partners do not withstand scrutiny under Section 122 of the U.S. Trade Act, declaring the measures are illegal in a 2–1 decision.

It comes after Trump announced a fresh round of tariffs by invoking Section 122 in February, a provision that authorizes the president to levy tariffs for up to 150 days, as an alternative to his reciprocal tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as illegal and void.

The latest lawsuit was initiated by a group of small businesses after the global tariffs took effect on Feb. 24, which claimed that Trump attempted to sidestep the Supreme Court's decision.

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

A U.S. court on Thursday ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump's latest 10 percent global tariffs are unlawful.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that the Trump administration's newly imposed 10 percent global tariffs on all trading partners do not withstand scrutiny under Section 122 of the U.S. Trade Act and declared the measure illegal in a 2-1 decision.

The decision came after Trump announced a fresh round of tariffs in February by invoking Section 122, a provision that authorizes the president to levy tariffs for up to 150 days, as an alternative to his reciprocal tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as illegal and void.

The latest lawsuit was initiated by a group of small businesses — which claimed that Trump attempted to sidestep the Supreme Court's decision — after the global tariffs took effect on Feb. 24.

The Korean government stressed that it would respond calmly to the ruling in accordance with the principle of maintaining a "balance of interests" under existing tariff agreements between Seoul and Washington, according to a Yonhap News Agency report.

"The ruling's legal effect only applies to a portion of the plaintiffs involved in the case," an official from the presidential office told Yonhap.

"Tariffs imposed under Section 122 of U.S. trade law can remain in place for a maximum of 150 days," the official added. "The [Korean] government will continue to closely monitor related developments and respond in a measured manner based on the principle of securing a balance of interests under our existing tariff agreements."

This article is by Hong Sang-ji and read by an artificial voice.

For many drivers in their 20s and 30s, the smartest way to own a car is not to own one at all.

A growing number of consumers in their 20s and 30s are choosing to rent or subscribe to cars rather than own them as assets, according to the mobility industry on May 6.

The shift reflects efforts to minimize both tangible and intangible costs associated with car ownership, such as car insurance premiums, vehicle depreciation and the opportunity cost of tying up large amounts of money in a car purchase.

The share of new car purchases made by consumers in their 20s and 30s last year fell to 5.6 percent and 19 percent, respectively, the lowest levels in a decade, according to data from auto industry tracker Carisyou.

The trend is accelerating alongside high gas prices and the rapid shift in mobility from internal combustion engine vehicles to software-defined vehicles centered on EVs.

As technologies such as autonomous driving and over-the-air software updates evolve more quickly, consumers increasingly see more value in using the latest vehicles for a few years and returning them once the technology becomes outdated, rather than owning one car long term.

"I could have bought a car through installments, but I didn't want debt," said Kim So-yeon, a 32-year-old office worker.

Kim opted for a two-year rental contract for a Kia EV3 after deciding that tying up a large amount of money in a new car no longer made financial sense. "I also didn't want to deal with things like insurance fees and parking, so I decided to rent the car instead," Kim added.

Car lease and rental platform Chazm reported that the share of electric vehicle contracts signed through its app surged from around 5 percent at the beginning of last year to more than 60 percent last month.

"If people used to drive gasoline cars for around 10 years, the technology cycle for electric vehicles has now shortened dramatically to around three to five years," said Kim Pil-soo, an automotive engineering professor at Daelim University. "There is little reason to spend a large amount of money on a car while taking on the steep drop in resale value just three years later."

The "asset-light" consumption trend — reducing owned assets to cut the costs associated with them — is gradually spreading among younger consumers in the auto market, according to industry sources.

Consumers are also increasingly turning to long-term rental and subscription products because they avoid financial debt from installment purchases and insurance premium hikes after accidents.

"Users increasingly want to outsource the various risks associated with vehicle ownership to platforms," a representative from Chazm said.

The trend has also become popular among younger drivers with early adopter tendencies who want quick access to expensive new vehicles.

Car-sharing platform Socar recently revamped its vehicle subscription service, Socar Plan, into a more flexible offering called Socar Subscription, allowing users to subscribe for periods as short as one week. The platform introduced Tesla Model X and Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) features into its new subscription service.

The subscription fees for the two Tesla models were set at 1.49 million won ($1,035) per week and approximately 4 million won per month, including insurance. More than 2,000 applications reportedly poured in during a 10-day advance reservation period that began in March.

"We significantly lowered the barrier to access by reducing the long wait times associated with buying new cars and eliminating upfront costs such as acquisition taxes and advance payments," a representative from Socar said. "The goal is to give users faster access to the latest mobility technologies through the Socar platform."

The most popular models on Chazm, where 74 percent of its members are in their 20s and 30s, are the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3.

Automakers ...

Kim Sung-tak

The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Debate has intensified ahead of the June 3 local elections over the Democratic Party (DP)'s proposed special counsel bill targeting what it calls "fabricated prosecutions" and possible indictment cancellations. The opposition has fiercely criticized provisions in the bill that could allow charges tied to cases involving President Lee Jae Myung to be withdrawn, turning the issue into a major election controversy. In several closely contested regions, polling gaps between ruling and opposition candidates have narrowed, prompting DP floor leader Han Byung-do to say decisions regarding the legislation would be deferred until after the elections.

The DP delayed handling the bill after President Lee signaled his position. Party leaders, including Jung Chung-rae, had strongly defended the legitimacy of a special counsel investigation tied to indictment cancellations. Last November, when the party attempted to advance legislation suspending President Lee's ongoing trials, a message reportedly emerged warning against "dragging the president into the center of political conflict." Yet no such restraint appeared regarding the push to cancel indictments, leading many within the party to conclude that the president supported the effort.

Then the presidential office stated that "the ruling party should determine specific timing and procedures through public consultation and deliberation," and party leaders immediately adjusted course. The future direction of the indictment-cancellation initiative after the elections, therefore, appears to depend largely on President Lee himself.

The lawmaker who led the ruling party's push was Rep. Lee Geon-tae, who previously served as Lee Jae Myung's attorney in the Daejang-dong development corruption case. Lee Geon-tae sent personal letters to all DP lawmakers urging them to join a caucus to support the cancellation of indictments. At a press conference held by the group, which reportedly drew more than 100 lawmakers, he argued that while the Korean president has constitutional immunity from criminal prosecution, the United States also effectively dismisses cases filed before a president takes office under Justice Department interpretations.

Members of the caucus also raised their voices during the parliamentary investigation into alleged fabricated prosecutions, attempting to establish justification for withdrawing indictments. Such lawmakers will likely be classified as staunchly pro-Lee figures by hardline party supporters. President Lee may even have appreciated their loyalty. Yet these moves could ultimately have inflicted the greatest political damage on him.

Since taking office, Lee has distinguished himself from previous DP presidents by adopting a pragmatic course less constrained by ideological divisions. He retained Song Mi-ryung, agriculture minister from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, and appointed experts with major corporate backgrounds to key ministries. The appointments were interpreted as rewarding competence regardless of political identity. Lee, who has repeatedly argued that "ideology and political camps do not put food on the table," emphasized centrist economic policies while showing diplomatic flexibility with Japan that moved beyond historical disputes. Measures aimed at revitalizing the stock market even fueled talk of a previously unimaginable Kospi reaching 7000.

Yet the ruling party's aggressive drive for the special counsel bill on the cancellation of indictments exposed Lee to a completely different line of attack. Opposition figures accused him of attempting to "erase his own crimes through a special counsel appointment," calling it a "self-pardon legislative coup." Some even invoked comparisons to Adolf Hitler. The People Power Party, which had struggled politically after accusations of sympathizing with insurrectionist forces, was effectively handed a new political weapon by the DP itself.

If pr...

Park Su-ryon

The author is the deputy editor of Content Division Three and the head of corporate research at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Before K-pop became a globally admired Korean export, one of the country's most respected achievements abroad was its national health insurance system. Regardless of their workplace, region of residence or level of income, nearly everyone in Korea can receive medical treatment. Koreans often take that for granted, but such universal coverage remains difficult to imagine in the United States and is uncommon even in parts of Europe with advanced welfare systems.

One of the key forces behind the creation of the National Health Insurance Service was, in fact, major corporate labor unions. Two years before the launch of the integrated insurance service in 2000, a landmark agreement among labor, management and the government laid the foundation for combining fragmented regional- and workplace-based medical insurance funds into a single national system.

At the time, Korea was struggling through the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Government finances had deteriorated, and many people had lost their jobs and economic security almost overnight. Labor groups accepted painful compromises, including layoffs and the legalization of dispatched workers. That willingness to share the burden helped Korea expand its social safety net through measures such as integrated health insurance and broader employment insurance coverage.

Had large corporate unions resisted transferring their accumulated insurance reserves into a unified national system, the current health insurance structure might never have emerged.

That history comes to mind again because of the increasingly bitter dispute between Samsung Electronics and its labor union over performance bonuses. The branch affiliated with the Samsung Group super-enterprise labor union has reportedly demanded cash bonuses amounting to roughly 15 percent of annual operating profits, or around 45 trillion won ($31 billion), a figure larger than the company's annual research and development investment of 37 trillion won.

But nowhere in these demands does one see the sense of solidarity traditionally associated, however vaguely, with the idea of a labor union. Little consideration appears to have been given to the broader national economy, the company's long-term future or even the contribution of subcontracted workers responsible for maintaining semiconductor facilities and handling hazardous chemicals.

Much of the extraordinary profitability currently enjoyed by Samsung's semiconductor division and SK hynix stems from the oligopolistic structure of the high-value memory chip market, in which few producers can meet overwhelming demand. How should society view collective demands for enormous cash bonuses from workers employed in companies where layoffs remain rare even during downturns and where bonuses during boom years are sought regardless of individual contribution?

Such demands increasingly resemble rent-seeking behavior tied to the privilege of having secured employment at capital-intensive conglomerates with overwhelming market power.

In truth, major corporate unions shifted long ago from broader social movements into organizations focused primarily on economic gain for existing members. In a society in which many people feel compelled to survive individually, like contestants in the Netflix series "Squid Game" (2021-25), regular employees at large corporations have steadily reinforced the walls protecting their own status.

Even in the automobile, shipbuilding and steel industries, union agendas, once symbols of militant labor activism, now center largely on wages, bonuses and retirement age extensions. After the revised labor law known as the "Yellow Envelope" law took effect in March, Posco announced plans to directly hire 7,000 subcontracted workers. The company's regular employee union opposed the equal treatment, arguing that "the value and pride of union members who w...

The National Assembly convened a plenary session Thursday to vote on a constitutional amendment proposed jointly by six political parties. The vote, however, collapsed after the People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the session in line with its official position. Although the ruling bloc says it will attempt another vote, the prospect of holding Korea's first constitutional referendum in 39 years alongside the June 3 local elections now appears unlikely.

The proposed amendment would add the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests and the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement to the Constitution's preamble while strengthening parliamentary oversight over declarations of martial law. The PPP did not strongly oppose the content itself. Instead, it objected mainly to holding a constitutional referendum simultaneously with the elections.

The entire process, from proposal to collapse, leaves much to be regretted. Both constitutionally and politically, it is difficult to pass a constitutional amendment without support from the largest opposition party. The key question was therefore whether the ruling camp could demonstrate the political leadership needed to secure bipartisan cooperation.

National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik proposed a sequential and partial constitutional revision, arguing that achievable reforms should come first. Yet from the proposal stage onward, the process moved forward without the participation of the PPP. If there had truly been determination and sincerity regarding constitutional revision, broader social discussion and persuasion of the opposition should have preceded the formal proposal.

The PPP also deserves criticism for opposing the plan without clearly explaining how holding a referendum together with elections would undermine the political process. At the same time, Woo's remarks that "if constitutional revision is blocked, who would believe the sincerity of opposition to the Dec. 3, [2024], martial law declaration?" did little to encourage cooperation.

President Lee Jae Myung further complicated matters during a Cabinet meeting when he suggested that those opposing stronger parliamentary control over illegal martial law were effectively defending it. Such remarks only intensified resistance from the opposition and made passage of the amendment more difficult.

Korea's ninth constitutional revision in 1987, which introduced direct presidential elections, won overwhelming approval of 93.1 percent in a national referendum because the ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement based on broad public consensus. If constitutional revision is to be pursued again, the ruling bloc should first create conditions for opposition participation. The PPP, meanwhile, must abandon its refusal to engage in discussion itself. Whatever disagreements may exist elsewhere, constitutional revision at least should proceed through bipartisan agreement.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice.

SEJONG — Korea secured roughly 210 million barrels of crude oil for May to July — more than 80 percent of the volume imported over the same period last year, despite massive supply shocks due to the Iran war — easing looming fears that a protracted Iran war could trigger an oil shock as early as May.

Among non–Middle Eastern suppliers, imports from the United States have surged most conspicuously, marking the sharpest increase in Korea's diversified sourcing mix.

"Total crude demand is expected to be fully covered from May to July through overseas imports, swap arrangements, and private stockpiles," said Vice Industry Minister Moon Shin-hak during a press briefing Thursday afternoon at the government complex in Sejong.

"We are also in talks with UAE's Adnoc and Saudi Aramco on cooperation for joint strategic stockpiling."

Detailed projections indicate that more than 75 million barrels are expected in May, over 60 million barrels in June, and more than 70 million barrels in July. These figures include a 250 million-barrel volume secured from Saudi Arabia through a special envoy mission by the presidential chief of staff, portions of which will begin arriving during the spring and continue to be delivered after July with no set timeline.

"We are also actively pursuing crude supply from Venezuela, and supply announcements will be made in a short time," Moon said.

The remarks come amid growing concerns that the continuous blockade of Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20 percent of global crude flows — has fueled warnings that an oil shock may materialize as early as May.

Goldman Sachs has estimated that global crude inventories are now approaching their lowest level in nearly eight years. It also predicted that stocks of refined products such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel are projected to cover only about 45 days of demand.

Moon also projected that naphtha supply between May and July would recover to more than 90 percent of pre-war levels, with operating rates at naphtha cracking center facilities also expected to rebound above 90 percent.

The Industry Ministry on Thursday also announced that it will freeze its fifth round of maximum oil price controls, which will take effect at 12 a.m. Friday and run for two weeks.

Under the policy, ceiling prices for gasoline, diesel, and kerosene supplied by domestic refiners to gas stations will remain unchanged at 1,934 won per liter ($5.04 per gallon) for gasoline, 1,923 won for diesel, and 1,530 won for kerosene. This marks the third consecutive freeze, extending a series of price-cap rollovers from the third round onward.

"Thanks to the oil price cap policy, we suppressed potential increases of about 200 won for gasoline, 400 won for diesel, and around 600 won for kerosene," Moon said.

"I also acknowledge the criticism that fuel consumption would have fallen further without the price cap system, but this measure is fundamentally designed to stabilize livelihoods," he added. "At the same time, we are appealing to the public to reduce consumption where possible."

Moon reiterated that losses incurred by refiners under the ceiling price regime will be fully compensated by the government.

A government-led compensation committee is expected to be established in May to deliberate payouts with private firms, based on loss data submitted by refiners covering an approximate three-month period through the end of June.