Prime Minister nominee Kim Min-seok said on the 13th, “For items with unclear or opaque distribution processes, we need to enhance the transparency of the transaction.”
On that day, Kim presided over a 'Listening session on stabilizing food prices' at the Financial Supervisory Service training center in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, and stated, “The rapid rise in living costs is causing unbearable pain to the public.”
He said, “I thought it would be good to prioritize food prices, so I arranged this meeting,” adding, “The era in which we could suppress companies' selling prices through price regulation is over.”
He further noted, “Shifting the burden to the public due to the opaqueness of the transaction is something we need to correct in the rationalization of our society and market,” and added, “It might be good to think from the start about how the central government, local governments, and the third sector, including corporations, can collaborate.”
Kim stated, “The issue of living costs has no political party affiliation or relationship to the victory or defeat of a presidential election; it is a problem without a conservative or progressive divide,” urging cooperation from both parties to tackle it together.
Regarding the problem of delivery brokerage fees, he noted that 'the self-regulation of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has failed.' He added, 'I understand that discussions, including legislation on what the appropriate limit for delivery brokerage fees should be, are already beginning,' and suggested that 'the government should also pay attention and the assembly should be a bit more proactive and attentive.'
Kim also proposed, “When I become Prime Minister, it may be good for public officials to eat lunch at least once a week in local commercial areas, no matter how nice the cafeteria is.”
The meeting was attended by about 10 people, including Democratic Party of Korea members Wi Sung-gon and Min Byeong-deok, Moon Mi-ran, chair of the Korea Consumer Association, Jeon Gye-soon, head of the Korea Consumer Education Institute, Kim Myung-chul, vice president of the Korea Food Industry Association, and Yoon Hong-geun, chair of the Korea Restaurant Association, along with other industry and government officials and experts.
According to officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, a representative from the consumer group stated, “Compared to recent fluctuations in major international raw material prices, the increase in processed food prices is significant,” and emphasized the need to improve price transparency through expanded online wholesale markets and enhancements to corporate disclosure systems to make food price information more accessible.
In response, the food industry explained that it is difficult to immediately reflect international price fluctuations as they are purchasing raw materials for 1 to 2 years in advance. It requested tax support for imported raw materials and incentives for using domestically sourced materials to ensure a stable supply of food raw materials. The Restaurant Association reportedly cited 'high delivery fees' as a cause of rising food prices.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, Kim mentioned, “There is a need to strengthen proactive analyses regarding prices, agricultural products supply and demand, and such using artificial intelligence (AI) at agricultural and food research institutes,” and stated that “the government will deeply consider the scope of information disclosure to make food and restaurant price information easily accessible to consumers.”
He added, “It seems that having a delivery app with public interest functioning and spreading will be an important means of reasonably solving the delivery fee issue.”