Yoon postpones local council meetings due to heavy rain... "Local governments to focus on damage recovery"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol postponed the scheduled local meeting on the 17th and is focusing on responding to the heavy rain.

President Yoon was scheduled to preside over the 7th Central-Local Cooperation Meeting in Chungnam in the afternoon, attended by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, relevant ministers, and local government heads.

However, as heavy rain continued in the Seoul metropolitan area and other regions from early morning, President Yoon judged that the central government and local governments needed to concentrate on flood response on-site, and thus postponed the meeting.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the entire country is cloudy, and due to the influence of a stationary front bringing in a large amount of moisture, heavy rain is expected in the central and southern regions. A heavy rain advisory has been issued for Seoul, and the first emergency rain disaster text message of the year was sent to Jongno-gu and other areas.

A presidential office official stated, "The president is receiving real-time reports on damage nationwide and has urged each local government head to do their utmost in damage recovery and response at their current locations."

Earlier, at the Cabinet meeting the previous day, President Yoon also urged, "Strengthen surveillance of vulnerable areas such as mountain slopes, lowlands, and semi-basements, and ensure thorough evacuation of residents."