[Anchor]
Chuseok is supposed to be an abundant holiday, but many people are finding it hard to shop comfortably due to soaring prices. To stabilize prices for Chuseok, the government has decided to increase the supply of holiday items to a record-high level and monitor the prices of major goods every day.
Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the story.
[Reporter]
A long line forms in front of the meat section.
Because Hanwoo prices are about 10% higher than last Chuseok, people flocked to the half-price promotional event.
Major seafood items, such as cutlassfish and pollock, have also jumped by nearly 10% compared to last year.
A shopper who picked up and put down fish eventually gave up on the purchase, turning their attention to government-supported discounted seafood items that started at large supermarkets today (September 10).
[Supermarket Shopper: Prices are skyrocketing. I came here a bit early while it was quiet to look around and buy things like that....]
Vegetable prices, such as spinach and zucchini, which surged due to the heatwave, are still not coming down.
[Supermarket Shopper: I stopped by Costco, checked out the apartment market, and came here last. I shop while comparing prices.]
It is estimated that the cost of preparing this year's Chuseok ancestral ritual table will exceed 300,000 won even when using traditional markets.
[Lee Ji-yeon and Kim Kyung-ja / Yangcheon-gu, Seoul: It is too expensive. (Herbs have gone up so much.) We really cannot buy them. So we buy just a little bit at a time.]
[Kim Jong-sung / Traditional Market Merchant: I definitely feel that customers have decreased by about 20 to 30 percent compared to last year.]
With the Chuseok holiday two weeks away, the government is introducing stronger price stabilization measures.
It has expanded participating discount partners, including the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the food industry, and extended the period until the end of this month.
At traditional markets, starting on the 16th, which is one week before Chuseok, about 30% of purchase amounts will be refunded in Onnuri gift certificates.
Following a decision to abolish the discount support limit for agricultural and livestock products by injecting an additional 90 billion won to the existing 100 billion won, the government also announced a plan today to intensively crack down on rip-off prices.
[Han Sung-sook / Prime Minister: Please ensure that the Chuseok livelihood stabilization measures are implemented without a hitch, and respond strictly to price-disrupting acts.]
In addition, the government plans to survey 36 major items every day until before Chuseok to track price trends in real-time.
(Video Reporter: Lee Moo-jin, Video Editor: Cho Moo-hwan, Designer: Lee Jae-jun, VJ: Lee Ji-hwan)
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