By Seo Jee-yeon
Staff Reporter

Vehicle operations may be limited in the second half of the year if international oil prices continue to rise, putting pressure on the Korean economy.

The energy-saving measure was officially proposed yesterday at the 11th Energy Saving National Committee, led by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, at the government complex in Kwachon, Kyonggi Province.

The proposal came amid rising demand for state-level measures to effectively cope with the global oil price hike.

If the government takes the measure, vehicles ending in even and odd numbers should be off the road in turn during a week.

In a bid to save energy, the government also plans to curb the operating hours of energy-consuming businesses, such as saunas and golf courses, nationwide.

As the high oil price trend is expected to continue, the government also decided to expand oil stockpiles to 131 days from the current 106 days by 2008 in preparation for a possible oil supply disruption.

Regarding energy saving measures at the industrial level, the electronics industry agreed to improve the energy efficiency by 2.6 percent by 2008 of six home appliances, including refrigerators, television sets and computers, which use 62 percent of a household’s total electricity consumption.

If the agreement is implemented, about 805 billion won will be saved per year, the committee said.

In a related development, the local business community held a meeting to discuss energy saving measures and urged the government to adopt daylight savings time, also known as summer time.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) organized the meeting.

During summer time, clocks are turned forward by an hour during the summer in an attempt to save energy after sunset.

Korea adopted the system three times between 1949 to 1961 and 1987 to 1988.

The FKI also called on the government to draw up plans to promote overseas resources development projects.

To this end, most of all, it proposed the government make investments in cultivating professionals in the field while securing a special budget to support companies exploring for energy overseas and streamlining tax benefits to those firms.

jyseo@koreatimes.co.kr