SEOUL-- President Moon Jae-in ordered the government on Monday to come up with "urgent" measures in response to the political situation in Ukraine amid fears the security crisis could hurt South Korean interests.
Moon made the remark as he presided over a Cabinet-level meeting discussing strategies to cope with the external economy and security situation.
"We must work thoroughly to safely evacuate our people and come up with measures in advance to minimize damage to our businesses," he said at the meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. "There is a need for urgent measures, as the political instability in Ukraine is continuing with no sign of a breakthrough."
Moon's comments come as local industries have expressed concern the instability in Ukraine could lead to a hike in energy and grain prices.
"We must support our exporters and our businesses based there from all sides and respond preemptively to supply and demand concerns with respect to energy, raw materials and grains," he said.
Moon said the Ukraine crisis has demonstrated the threat security issues can pose to global trade and stressed the importance of securing stable supply chains.
"We will have to use this supply chain crisis experienced by the entire world as an opportunity to strengthen our economy's structure and industrial competitiveness," he said, adding establishing an interagency system to oversee all supply chain issues will be key.
Source: Yonhap News Agency