President Lee Jae-myung said on the 15th that claims the government wasted 80 billion won ($56 million) buying expensive Brazilian eggs ahead of a summit are false. "I ask those spreading false information for political purposes to correct it," he said.
Lee laid out the circumstances and costs of the Brazilian egg imports in a post on X titled "Presidential Office Communications Fact Check."
He began by citing the claim in question: that the government wasted 80 billion won buying Brazilian eggs at 1,300 won each for a summit with Brazil, three to four times the price of U.S. eggs at 464 won and Thai eggs at 305 won.
Lee said the purchase price for the Brazilian eggs was about 178 won per egg, a market-level price, and that incidental costs such as long-haul air transport accounted for much of the expense. He added that the Brazilian shipment amounted to 0.8% of total egg imports, with a total import cost of about 1.6 billion won.
On the reason for the imports, he said domestic egg prices spiked this past summer amid a supply shortage, while existing suppliers in Asia and the United States also lacked exportable volumes.
"Even though transport costs were high, we conducted a small trial import of Brazilian eggs to secure an additional alternative supplier," he said.
Lee said the Brazilian eggs sell domestically for about 140 won each, stressing that bringing in more expensive overseas supplies and distributing them cheaply at home is a routine step authorities take to manage consumer prices for low- and middle-income households.
"Even though Brazilian export prices can be readily verified, it is not desirable to damage the reputation of policymakers by spreading the false claim that we wasted 80 billion won on expensive purchases to give Brazil preferential treatment because of a summit," he said.
Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, wrote on Facebook on the 10th that procedures to import Brazilian eggs began immediately after a February summit between Lee and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and that 1.12 million Brazilian eggs were imported right after Lee visited Brazil in July.
"U.S. eggs cost 464 won each and Thai eggs 305 won, but Brazilian eggs cost a full 1,300 won," he wrote. "President Lula is the foremost leftist president in South America. Was looking after the domestic 'left' not enough, so they had to look after the international 'left' too?"