Dongdaemun-gu Mobilizes Administrative and Financial Support for Cheongnyangni Market Fire Recovery

Ahead of Chuseok, Dongdaemun-gu provides 240 million KRW, Seoul City 210 million KRW, totaling 450 million KRW budget support for merchants affected by fire... Administrative efforts mobilized for swift business reopening including waste collection and installation of protective tents

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] In the early morning of September 21, ten days before the Chuseok holiday, a large fire broke out at Cheongnyangni Market (fruit and vegetable market and traditional market) in Jegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu.

Fortunately, there were no casualties, but about 30 stores and warehouses that had stocked large quantities of holiday fruit products ahead of the Chuseok peak season were burned, causing massive property damage.

Accordingly, Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) organized the Dongdaemun-gu Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the day of the fire, with Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol as the head, to manage disaster recovery and support in the Cheongnyangni Market area.

The Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters is composed of 7 teams and 9 departments: ▲Situation Management Team: Economic Promotion Division, etc. ▲Disaster Site Environment Maintenance Team: Cleaning Administration Division ▲Facility Restoration Team: Architecture Division ▲Living Support Team: Welfare Policy Division, etc. ▲Energy Restoration Team: Clean Environment Division ▲Medical Quarantine Team: Regional Health Division ▲Disaster Recovery Public Relations Team: Public Relations Officer.

Centered on the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the district has held a total of five meetings so far, appointed responsible department heads for fire market recovery, and is making every effort to complete fire restoration.

The district first assessed the fire damage status and began financial support for the affected stores.

Dongdaemun-gu quickly allocated a total of 240 million KRW from the disaster management fund, supporting ▲waste disposal costs of 50 million KRW ▲installation of protective tents for business reopening 12 million KRW ▲repair of rain and sun shades 100 million KRW ▲disaster relief funds of 78 million KRW to affected small business owners.

Additionally, to alleviate the management difficulties of affected merchants, the district issued disaster small business certificates, and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation set up a loan consultation window for emergency business stabilization funds for affected merchants, providing loan support to minimize damage.

Furthermore, Seoul City provided 210 million KRW from its disaster management fund, of which 150 million KRW was used for waste disposal costs, and disaster relief funds of 60 million KRW were individually distributed at 2 million KRW each to 30 stores. However, since the fire site did not meet the criteria for a special disaster area declaration by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the special disaster funds requested from the ministry were not granted.

The district is also actively working on administrative support.

To restore the vitality of Cheongnyangni Traditional Market to its pre-fire state, the district mayor personally visits the fire site frequently on weekdays and weekends, listens to the difficulties of affected store merchants, and actively takes measures to resolve issues.

Through this process, the district quickly collected waste from the fire site, installed protective tents to enable affected stores to resume business, and prepared temporary sales locations.

In addition, the district is mobilizing all administrative means, such as holding a campaign to help sell goods from affected stores, with employees purchasing fire-scorched fruits.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun District, visited the site of the fire.

Along with this, to prepare for future traditional market fires, the district is conducting building safety inspections, emergency fire safety checks for traditional markets, and promoting fire alarm facility installations and renovation projects for the entire traditional market.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “We deeply regret the mental and material damage suffered by market merchants due to this unexpected fire. Dongdaemun-gu will do its best to restore the affected stores to their pre-fire condition and will establish fundamental measures regarding the aging of traditional markets and fire safety inspections to create a safe traditional market.”