President Lee Jae Myung reprimanded the state-run oil company for conducting insufficient analysis of a deep-sea gas project pursued under former President Yoon Suk Yeol. 

At a policy briefing by agencies affiliated with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources in Sejong City on Wednesday, Lee asked the acting chief of the Korea National Oil Corporation(KNOC) whether it had calculated production costs when reviewing the plan's potential profitability.

Acting KNOC President Choi Moon-gyu replied that the company had not done so. Lee repeated the question, and Choi answered that there had been "a lot of variables."

Lee then said that the firm should not have poured "several hundred billion won" into the project if it hadn't confirmed its economic viability.

The president also asked the acting chief about KNOC's plans to address its negative equity, with assets totaling 20 trillion won, or roughly 14 billion U.S. dollars, and liabilities totaling 21 trillion won.

Choi, in response, pledged to dispose of underperforming assets. Lee responded that such sell-offs would not improve the state of the company's assets.