Received report while traveling by KTX to heavy rain damage area... President decides regional visit to encourage administrative support
[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Son Seon-hee] President Moon Jae-in has instructed to consider designating special disaster zones at the eup, myeon, and dong levels for a swift designation of special disaster areas. Since designating special disaster zones at the city and county levels may take considerable time due to damage assessment and other reasons, he ordered minimizing administrative districts to expedite urgent designations.
Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok stated on the 12th in a "written briefing regarding the visit to heavy rain damage sites," "President Moon received a confidential report while traveling by KTX to visit the heavy rain damage sites today."
President Moon received additional reports related to special disaster zones from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. He instructed, "Please do your best to ensure support is provided by promptly designating special disaster zones. Even if conditions do not allow designation at the city or county level, consider detailed designation down to the eup, myeon, and dong levels."
According to the Blue House, in the meeting room on the KTX train, President Moon received reports for about 45 minutes from six officials: the head of the Korea Forest Service, the vice minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, the director of the Health Research Institute, the head of the Korean Red Cross headquarters, and the director of the Korea Central Volunteer Center. Four officials from the Blue House?the director of the National Situation Room, the first secretary, the protocol secretary, and the spokesperson?were also present. Reports covered the heavy rain damage situation, recovery support plans, and quarantine status.
President Moon told the director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, "Please do your best to prevent casualties," and expressed gratitude to the head of the Korean Red Cross headquarters and the director of the Central Volunteer Center. This indicated that volunteer activities during disaster situations provide great support to affected residents.
President Moon said, "I want to ask the two of you to be careful with quarantine yourselves since this is a COVID-19 situation."
Addressing government officials, President Moon said, "It may not be easy for volunteers themselves to set up rest facilities in flood recovery areas, so support is necessary to ensure proper rest," and urged, "Please pay close attention to ensure that volunteers are not physically overburdened."
President Moon said, "The heavy rain has ended, and now the heatwave has begun. Recovery work will be carried out in the heatwave, so please focus on preventing secondary damage," and ordered, "Even after the heavy rain ends, landslides may occur, so please take measures to prevent landslides in dangerous areas."
He asked the director of the Health Research Institute, "In such heavy rain situations, COVID-19 quarantine may become lax, so please manage it well."
President Moon said, "Thanks to the public's participation in quarantine activities such as diligently using hand sanitizers and continuing to wear masks due to COVID-19 measures, there may be a suppressive effect on general diseases and infectious diseases," and added, "Please also prepare well for quarantine in temporary shelters where disaster victims gather and for waterborne infectious diseases."
Meanwhile, regarding his visit to the affected areas, President Moon said, "I hesitated to visit because I was worried it might cause obstacles due to reception or protocol issues while recovery work is in full swing," and added, "The president's visit itself can be an encouragement and a way to promote administrative support, so I decided to visit. Instead, the number of accompanying personnel was minimized to avoid burdening the site."
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