Yoon Orders Thorough Firefighting in Guryong Village and Safety Management During Lunar New Year Holiday

President Yoon's Directives During Switzerland Trip
"Mobilize All Available Personnel and Equipment for Guryong Village"
"Thorough Management of Vulnerable Facilities Ahead of Seollal Holiday"
Also Urges Careful Inspection of Social Safety Nets for Vulnerable Groups

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Seok-yeol, who is visiting Switzerland, gave an urgent order on the 19th (local time) to mobilize all available personnel and equipment to suppress the fire related to the Guryeong Village fire in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, according to a written briefing by Chief of Public Relations Kim Eun-hye.

On the same day, President Yoon instructed, "Since Guryeong Village has houses located close together and is vulnerable to fire, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, led by the minister, and the fire authorities should mobilize all available personnel and equipment to thoroughly suppress the fire."

He especially urged, "To prevent casualties, local governments and others should use all available means to guide residents to evacuate and ensure the safety of rescue workers."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon also ordered related ministries to ensure thorough safety management and prompt accident response after receiving a safety preparedness report for the Lunar New Year holiday period.

Regarding this, President Yoon said, "Above all, the most important thing is to ensure that the people can have a safe Lunar New Year holiday," and emphasized, "Each related ministry must thoroughly manage the safety of vulnerable facilities and ensure the operation of a 24-hour situation management and inter-agency cooperation system to respond promptly in case of accidents."

In particular, to prevent traffic accidents on the way home, he urged the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Minister of the Interior and Safety, among others, to "thoroughly implement multifaceted safety measures such as preventing freezing accidents on roads, railways, aviation, and ships."

To the Ministry of Health and Welfare and others, he said, "During the holiday period, please monitor emergency medical systems such as local clinics and pharmacies to ensure there is no medical gap, and since this is the first holiday without social distancing after the COVID-19 outbreak, please also inspect the quarantine status of major transportation and distribution facilities, where an increase in users is expected, more closely."

President Yoon mentioned, "Please pay more careful attention to the social safety net for socially vulnerable groups such as elderly people living alone to ensure there are no gaps."

Furthermore, he requested, "Please thoroughly manage crowd control at local festivals held during the holiday period, conduct fire safety inspections of traditional markets, and ensure safety management at industrial sites where work cannot stop even during the holidays."