Choi Acting President Visits Sancheong Wildfire Site to Inspect Containment Efforts (Comprehensive)

"Mobilize All Available Equipment and Personnel for an All-Out Response"

Choi Sangmok, Acting President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Economy and Finance, visited the wildfire site in Sancheong County, Gyeongnam Province on the 22nd to inspect the firefighting situation.

Firefighting helicopter at the Sancheong wildfire site. Photo by Yonhap News

According to Yonhap News, Acting President Choi received a report on the wildfire response from Lim Sangseop, Chief of the Korea Forest Service, and instructed, "With the Korea Forest Service at the center, related agencies such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of National Defense, and National Fire Agency should cooperate and mobilize all available equipment and personnel for an all-out response."

Choi also encouraged the wildfire response personnel and asked them to pay special attention to safety accidents.

During an inspection of the support status for relief supplies at evacuation facilities for affected residents, he instructed, "Relevant agencies should quickly respond to residents' requests to ensure there is no inconvenience to them."

Acting President Choi stated, "During the dry spring season, the public needs to be especially careful to prevent wildfires from occurring due to minor negligence."

As the large wildfire that broke out the previous afternoon in Sancheong, Gyeongnam Province, faced difficulties in containment due to strong winds, additional evacuation orders were issued for nearby villages. At around 3 p.m. that day, Sancheong County sent disaster safety text messages urging residents and hikers in eight villages near the fire site?Songha, Naegong, Oegong, Jungtae, Hupyeong, Bancheon, Bulgye, and Sincheon in Sicheon-myeon?to evacuate immediately to a safe location.

The additional evacuation order was issued as the forest authorities struggled to contain the fire due to the current dry air and strong winds exceeding 10 meters per second near the mountain summit. On the 21st, evacuation orders were issued for seven villages?Gukdong, Jeomdong, Wonri, Seosin, Seochon, Dongsin, and Jungsan?resulting in 213 residents evacuating to the Korea Seonbi Culture Research Institute.

Meanwhile, as of 3:30 p.m. that day, the Korea Forest Service raised the national wildfire disaster crisis alert to "serious" for the Chungcheong, Honam, and Yeongnam regions. On this day, 16 additional wildfires occurred nationwide. In regions where the "serious" wildfire crisis alert has been issued, at least one-fourth of public officials and half of public service personnel must be deployed or on standby, military shooting training is restricted, and entry permits to restricted mountain areas are suspended.

The crisis alert level for Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon regions was also raised from "caution" to "alert."