President Moon Jae-in has reaffirmed complete government support for eco-friendly cars, stressing the importance of gaining an early foothold in the global hydrogen car market.

The comments came after Moon was briefed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on its 2019 policy objectives Tuesday. 

In his closing remarks, the president called for groundbreaking support to create new growth engines, singling out electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles. 

According to a written briefing by deputy presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung, the president urged the public to trust the government's firm resolve in developing the still-new sector. 

Saying it's important to gain an early foothold in the alternate fuel car sectors, President Moon called for greater domestic demand to secure production capacity and price competitiveness.

He also noted state subsidies for electric cars are being used at a rapid pace as their private sector demand proved higher than the government's forecast.

Moon asked the Trade Ministry to closely monitor related market trends, and set aside a generous budget to advance the sector.