Oil firms, ministry may have cozy ties

The National Assembly held a committee meeting on industry and resources July 24 with the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy attending to address suspicions of a honeymoon between domestic oil refineries and the MOCIE, as well as questionable supervision of refineries, which has been repeatedly reported by the daily Dong-A Ilbo.

The standing committee is expected to focus on questions about improper activities such as alleged price fixing among domestic oil firms, following questioning July 13 by the government¡¯s economic officials.

Rep. Kim Bang-Lim of the Millennium Democratic Party said that MOCIE`s internal report on a review of the Dong-A Ilbo article alleging price fixing among oil firms, which was prepared shortly after the July 27 article issue of Dong-A Ilbo, was faxed to a domestic refinery. He pointed out that it proves a honeymoon relationship between the ministry and Korean oil firms.

In this connection, Rep. Maeing Hyung-Kyu of the Grand National Party contended that the fax number must be provided to the minister immediately to determine who sent the report to the oil company, as suggested by Rep. Kim with the release of MOCIE document.