The Story of Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol of Dongdaemun District Wiping Away Tears of Merchants After Fire at Cheongnyangni Cheonggwa Fruit and Vegetable Market...

Yu Gu-cheong Visits Cheongnyangni Traditional and Cheonggwamul Markets Fire Site Multiple Times on 21st to Devise Support Measures... Dongdaemun-gu Supports Debris Disposal and Provides Economic and Psychological Relief through Fruit Sales at Affected Stores

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun District, is explaining the damage caused by the fire to Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who visited the fire site on the 22nd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] In the early morning of the 21st, just before the Chuseok holiday, a fire broke out at the Cheongnyangni Traditional and Fruit Market. Although there were no casualties, about 20 stores within the market were damaged, and property damage occurred as ritual items such as apples and pears were burned. In particular, the fruit market merchants suffered significant property damage as they had stored a large quantity of goods in warehouses ahead of the holiday.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, moved quickly from the 21st to help the devastated merchants recover as soon as possible. On the morning of the 21st, he visited the site to oversee the firefighting efforts and assess the damage. He also comforted the merchants by holding the hands of those who broke down in tears and sharing their feelings.

On the 22nd, he went out early again to visit the site and carefully check the necessary parts for damage recovery. That afternoon, he met with leaders of both ruling and opposition parties who visited the site and earnestly requested that the government work hard to prepare countermeasures.

The Dongdaemun-gu office quickly decided to support the disposal of fire debris and began waste disposal work from the 23rd. On the morning of the 25th, Mayor Yoo visited the site again to meet with busy merchants handling waste disposal and business resumption and discussed future support measures. The district installed partitions immediately after the relevant authorities completed their on-site investigation so that merchants could temporarily resume business.

Mayor Yoo made several site visits to urge related departments to prepare support measures for the affected merchants. Accordingly, on the 24th, to economically assist and comfort the deeply distressed market merchants, the district held an event at the Dongdaemun-gu office plaza where remaining fruits damaged by the fire were sold to district office employees and residents.

At this event, fruits from the damaged stores (30 boxes and 820 pears, 45 boxes of grapes) worth 5.93 million KRW were sold.

Additionally, the district completed the investigation and safety inspection of the damaged buildings on the 26th and has requested additional support measures from Seoul City and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “It is very unfortunate to think about how great the sense of loss must be for the merchants who suffered damage just days before the Chuseok holiday. We will help with swift recovery and provide various support so that the merchants do not lose courage and can get back on their feet quickly.”