The ministry compared the changes in petroleum prices in each country between 1991 and 2007 and explained that the reason prices in Japan went from most to least expensive was due to the country's efforts to introduce competition in its petroleum industry through deregulation. The ministry was saying that petroleum prices are expensive in Korea because four domestic refiners have a monopoly, while gas stations are bound by regulations requiring them to sell gasoline from just one particular supplier. Deregulating Korea's petroleum market as Japan did would thus lead to huge declines in gasoline and diesel prices.

The ministry's claim is enough to grab the attention of Korean consumers, who have been complaining that domestic gasoline prices are more expensive than international standards. But the problem is the time-frame the ministry used to compare prices. The ministry simply cited gasoline prices from June and July of last year to support its claim that Koreans were paying much more than the Japanese. But a comparison of average prices during the second half of last year shows that gasoline in Korea cost W685 per liter, which is much cheaper than W692 in Japan. The average gasoline price during the first quarter of this year was W781 in Korea compared to W840 in Japan. But the post-tax gasoline price is W1,659 in Korea, which is more expensive than W1,397 in Japan. In other words, exorbitant taxes were the reason behind the more expensive gasoline prices in Korea.

It's easy to see why the Strategy and Finance Ministry manipulated data to dump the blame on refiners who are resisting deregulation. For a government that turned to outdated, interventionist measures to tame inflation, some sort of excuse was probably necessary in the face of stubbornly soaring consumer prices. But it would be truly pathetic if the government has really turned to such elementary tactics of deception in order to avoid blame.