Lee Jae-myung vows tough punishment for syringe hoarding, price-gouging

President Lee Jae-myung said he will deal sternly with companies caught hoarding syringes, calling it antisocial profiteering that exploits a community crisis.

In a post Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Lee said he instructed the Cabinet to take all possible follow-up steps, including continued crackdowns, swift investigations, tough punishment and the maximum administrative penalties for confirmed violations.

He also wrote, “What’s the point of living well alone? Let’s live together.”

The remarks came after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said a special nationwide inspection of syringe sellers, aimed at stabilizing distribution, found 32 distributors violated a notice banning syringe hoarding.

Some companies were found to have stockpiled about 130,000 syringes without selling them, or to have supplied 620,000 only to specific clients.