President Lee Jae-myung addressed claims on October 15 that the government wasted 80 billion won by importing expensive local eggs for a summit in Brazil, stating, "Those spreading false information for political purposes should correct it."
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), President Lee shared a fact-check from the Blue House, asserting that the purchase price of Brazilian eggs was approximately 178 won each, which aligns with market prices.
Contrary to claims that the government bought Brazilian eggs for 1,300 won each, the actual purchase price was 178 won, with the remainder attributed to additional costs from long-distance air transport. He noted that Brazilian eggs accounted for only 0.8% of total imports, with the total import cost around 16 billion won.
President Lee explained that due to a surge in domestic egg prices and supply shortages, existing import sources from Asia and the U.S. were also unable to meet demand, prompting the government to secure alternative supply lines through a small test import of Brazilian eggs.
He added that the domestic selling price of Brazilian eggs is about 140 won each, emphasizing that bringing in more expensive foreign supplies at lower prices domestically is a common measure taken by authorities to manage consumer prices during supply shortages.
He compared this to securing additional crude oil supplies when international oil prices rise or the government subsidizing domestic refined oil prices.
President Lee stated, "It is inappropriate to spread falsehoods that the government wasted 80 billion won on expensive purchases to give preferential treatment to Brazil for the summit, especially when the local export prices can be verified."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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