When the possibility of raising the price of soju and beer, the representative ‘liquor of the common people’, was raised, the government started to respond in earnest by launching an internal fact-finding investigation into the liquor industry.
Since the beginning of the year, heating costs, public transportation costs such as buses and subways have been raised, and with the prospect of ‘6,000 won per bottle of soju’, the agitation of the common people has become unusual.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Jae-gu = On the 14th, at a public bathhouse in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, the owner shows the city gas bill for January of this year and January of last year. The owner of the business said, “I looked back at the bill in January of last year, surprised by the high gas bill.” 2023.2.14 [email protected]
According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the liquor industry on the 26th, the government decided to conduct an investigation to find out the factors driving up the price of liquor, industry trends, and market structure.
The response was initiated less than a week after media reports raised the possibility of soju and beer price hikes due to a liquor tax hike and cost increase last week.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho openly sent a message to the liquor industry at a plenary meeting of the Planning and Finance Committee of the National Assembly on the 22nd, saying, “I ask for active cooperation from the industry (related to liquor prices).”
Deputy Prime Minister Chu also gave an indirect criticism of the liquor pricing structure, saying, “I will talk with the industry about whether to raise the price of alcohol by that much or more just because the tax has gone up a little.”
The reason why the government is so sensitive to liquor price trends and is nervous is because the increase in the price of alcohol, especially soju, is an extension of the trend of price hikes for ‘essential items for the common people’ that started earlier this year.
This year, from January, the effect of last year’s gas rate hike overlapped with heating demand during the winter, resulting in a ‘heating cost crisis’.
Heating is not an item that can reduce consumption even if the price rises. Especially in the cold winter months. Because of this, it is inevitable that the economically tight working class will be more hit by the heating cost increase.
In addition to heating bills, the whole country was excited by the announcement of an increase in public transportation fares, such as subways and buses, which are often used by common people.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced plans to raise subway and intra-city bus fares by 300 to 400 won, and many of the 16 cities and provinces excluding Seoul have either decided to raise public transportation fares or have begun reviewing them.
In addition, the possibility of raising the price of ‘liquor for the common people’ such as soju and beer has been raised.
Public sentiment is agitated as the common people, who suffered from high prices last year, face a series of hikes in heating bills, public transportation fares, and alcohol prices, which are highly sensible this year.
In response, the government is struggling to prepare measures to delay the increase in essential items for the common people or minimize side effects by monitoring public opinion trends.
For heating costs, measures were taken to increase support for households receiving 1.6 million gas discounts and 1.17 million energy vouchers, and to provide 592,000 won each to recipients of basic livelihood security and the next upper class.
As for public transportation fares, the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to postpone the time to raise public transportation fares originally scheduled for April this year to the second half of the year.
However, there were complaints about the lack of level and scope of the heating cost support, and public transportation fares are still on the rise within the year.
In particular, it is not easy to come up with a countermeasure for the price of soju and beer, so the government’s concerns are deepening.
This is because it is difficult for the government to directly intervene in the price of alcoholic beverages freely determined by private companies and self-employed people, and this is because it does not match the current government’s stance of pursuing a ‘free market economy’.
In response, the government is expected to find a way to put a brake on the increase in alcohol prices by seeking cooperation from the industry, examining the distribution and pricing structure, and adjusting as much as possible if there are any irrational parts.
yunhap news