Transition to Continuous Operation of the Disaster Safety Situation Room
Expansion of Dedicated Personnel and Establishment of Enhanced Expertise
Hwasun County, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gu Bok-gyu) announced on the 8th that it will operate the Disaster Safety Situation Room on a full-time basis to strengthen disaster safety management capabilities and ensure rapid response.
By expanding dedicated personnel 24 hours a day to enhance expertise, the county plans to establish an initial response system through rapid and accurate situation dissemination and close cooperation with related organizations in the event of a disaster, as well as perform command and other duties.
Until now, the Disaster Safety Situation Room was operated with the disaster department in charge during the daytime and the duty room in charge during nights, weekends, and holidays.
However, recently, natural disasters caused by abnormal weather due to climate change have surged, and the need for urgent response to social disasters has increased following the Itaewon tragedy, highlighting the growing importance of disaster prevention.
Accordingly, Hwasun County has changed the operation method to proactively and systematically operate the Disaster Safety Situation Room as an active administration to serve as a ‘disaster control tower’ that protects residents' lives and safety 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by monitoring disaster situations in real time and enabling immediate initial response when disasters occur.
In addition, to protect the safety and rights of residents affected by residential fires of various scales, the county will raise the support standards for fire damage assistance amounts.
The support amount will be paid differentially according to the degree of house destruction: 10 million KRW for total house loss, 8 million KRW for half loss, and 5 million KRW for partial loss due to fire damage.
Furthermore, to reduce the mortality rate caused by residential fires, the support target, which was previously limited to fire safety vulnerable households, will be expanded to general houses and apartment complexes to reduce fire-related deaths.
Additionally, promotional and preventive activities will be carried out with the goal of gradually installing fire extinguishers and fire alarms in every household.
Governor Gu Bok-gyu said, “We will strengthen our response capabilities so that the Disaster Safety Situation Room can quickly perform its functions,” and added, “We plan to take the lead in making Hwasun County a safe and livable place 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through close cooperation with related organizations, including maintaining systems and emergency contact networks.”
Meanwhile, Hwasun County was selected as an excellent local government in the 2023 evaluation conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for zero casualties from wind and flood disasters and no heat-related patients in the province.
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