As soon as Park Wansu, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, returned to Korea on the 5th after his business trip to Eastern Europe, he visited Masan Wholesale Market in Masanhappo-gu, Changwon City, which had recently been devastated by a fire.
Governor Park had left for a 7-night, 9-day business trip to the Czech Republic and Poland from the 28th of last month until this day.
While in Poland, Governor Park received news of the fire and immediately ordered prompt recovery efforts and the establishment of support measures.
Park Wansu, Governor of Gyeongnam Province (center), is meeting merchants at the Masan Agricultural Products Market fire site in Masanhappo-gu, Changwon City. Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government
On this day, Governor Park comforted merchants who had lost their livelihoods as their stores were burned, holding their hands in sympathy.
He said, "I offer my condolences to the small business owners who suffered great losses due to the fire right before Chuseok," and promised, "We will provide support in various ways to help ease your difficulties."
He added, "As the season when fires are more likely approaches, we will strengthen our safety management even further."
He also spoke with Son Hankook, head of the Gyeongnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration, and decided to conduct the fire investigation, originally scheduled for next week, on the 6th.
Park Wansu, governor of Gyeongnam Province (center), is inspecting the fire site at Masan Agricultural Products Market in Masanhappo-gu, Changwon City. Photo by Gyeongnam Provincial Government
The Gyeongnam provincial government will assist affected merchants through support such as small business policy loan programs, disaster relief funds, and establishing cooperative systems with Changwon City and the merchants' association, as well as recovery assistance.
In the mid- to long-term, the province and city/county governments will work to increase the subscription rate for traditional market fire insurance, with 80% of the joining fee subsidized, and will allow the use of provincial-owned land included in the market site for recovery projects.
They also plan to focus on identifying and improving risk factors in electrical, fire, and gas facilities in advance to enhance the safety of traditional markets.
Projects with practical fire safety benefits will also be pursued, such as proposing the installation of sprinklers and other water spray systems in the market as part of a Ministry of SMEs and Startups public contest project.
On the night of the 3rd at around 10:12 p.m., an unknown cause fire broke out at Masan Wholesale Market, partially burning 13 out of 28 stores, which is about half.
The fire was completely extinguished by the fire authorities at around 12:05 a.m. on the 4th, and aside from two people suffering minor smoke inhalation, there were no casualties.
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