This file photo taken Sept. 4, 2022, shows a board displaying fuel prices at a gas station in Seoul. (Yonhap)

The government decided to extend subsidies for diesel vehicle drivers until the end of this year to help ease their burden from high fuel costs, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Monday.

In May, the government began implementing the subsidy scheme for cargo truck drivers and others using diesel vehicles in the wake of its tight supplies and high price amid the war in Ukraine. The program was supposed to end this month.

But the government will extend it by three months and come up with measures to better respond to fluctuating energy prices amid uncertainty, Choo said in a meeting meant to check consumer prices.

The average retail price of diesel in South Korea came to 1,857.7 won ($1.34) per liter on average last week, compared with around 1,364 won in January. The price had soared to over 2,000 won per liter in May, outstripping gasoline prices for the first time in about 14 years.

Currently, the threshold price set for subsidy payments stands at 1,700 won per liter, and the government has offered half of the amount as a subsidy that exceeds the threshold price. (Yonhap)