Approval of Contingency Fund Expenditure Proposal at Morning Emergency Cabinet Meeting Chaired by Prime Minister
Yoon: "All Government Ministries Must Fully Address On-Site Issues"
President Yoon Suk-yeol approved the expenditure plan of 6.9 billion KRW in contingency funds on the 4th to support the World Jamboree event. This is to assist the World Jamboree held in Saemangeum, Jeonbuk, where numerous heatstroke patients have appeared. President Yoon has instructed the supply of refrigerated and frozen trucks to prepare for the heatwave, additional support for medical supplies, and improvements in meal services.
The Presidential Office announced that President Yoon approved the contingency fund expenditure plan, which was resolved at the emergency Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the same day. Earlier that morning, after receiving a report on the Jamboree situation, President Yoon urged Prime Minister Han and Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min to "immediately improve the quality and quantity of meals provided to students, including unlimited supply of large air-conditioned buses and refrigerated and frozen trucks, and for all government ministries to make every effort to promptly resolve the issues on site."
The previous afternoon, South Korea activated the second level of emergency duty at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) for the first time in history in response to the heatwave. With heatwave warnings issued nationwide, it is expected that over 108 areas will experience a daily maximum perceived temperature of 35 degrees Celsius or higher in the coming days. Due to the nationwide heatwave causing a surge in heat-related illnesses and concerns expressed internationally about the World Jamboree's progress, President Yoon, who is on vacation, is understood to have taken direct action.
Prime Minister Han ordered the dispatch of military personnel, including engineering units, medical officers, and nursing officers, the day before, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety urgently allocated 3 billion KRW in special grants to Jeollabuk-do to support the efforts. The 3 billion KRW can be immediately used for additional installation of hospital cooling facilities to prevent heat-related illnesses at the Jamboree, provision of heatwave prevention supplies and emergency supplies for heatstroke patients, and increasing the number of air-conditioned shuttle buses.
Additionally, Prime Minister Han instructed Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook, co-chair of the Jamboree organizing committee, to stay on site until the end of the Jamboree and take necessary measures. In particular, following reports that journalists covering the World Jamboree were being blocked from entering the site, he also urged transparent disclosure of the on-site situation and measures taken.
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