Park Hyungsoo, Gyeongbuk Party Chairman, Leads Discussions with Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Ministry of Economy and Finance for Wildfire Recovery

Calls for Realistic Compensation for Damages in Housing, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries
Requests for Expanded Agricultural Machinery Coverage and Support for Recovery Efforts

Park Hyungsoo, Chief Deputy Floor Leader of the People Power Party (Uiseong, Cheongsong, Yeongdeok, Uljin), held a meeting with Lee Hankyung, Vice Minister and Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, in the Chief Deputy Floor Leader's office at the National Assembly on the 10th to discuss recovery efforts for wildfire damages.

The meeting was also attended by National Assembly members representing wildfire-affected areas in North Gyeongsang Province: Shin Sungbeom, Seo Beomsu, Kim Hyeongdong, and Seo Cheonho.

During the meeting, various opinions were presented for the recovery of the affected areas, and Park Hyungsoo and the local lawmakers strongly urged for concrete support measures to ensure swift recovery.

In particular, there were strong calls for realistic compensation rates and expanded support in the housing, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sectors.

The main demands included: ▲raising the housing support unit price ▲adjusting the compensation rate for destroyed homes ▲expanding compensation and items for damaged agricultural machinery ▲compensation for damages in forestry and fisheries sectors ▲expanding support for small business owners and SMEs ▲support for demolition costs, among others.

Support for the restoration of cultural assets and welfare facilities was also discussed. In particular, expanding support for damaged fish farms in the Yeongdeok area was included.

Vice Minister Lee Hankyung responded, "We will apply the existing natural disaster support standards to both private and public facilities, but will consider additional support to ensure residential and livelihood stability for affected residents." He also stated that the inclusion of damages to forest products such as Songi mushrooms in the support items would be reviewed.

On the 11th, Park Hyungsoo met with Kim Yoonsang, the Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to request that sufficient budget for wildfire recovery be included in the supplementary budget for April. He emphasized, "Since this wildfire damage is of an unprecedented scale, institutional changes are needed for practical support, rather than being bound by the existing recovery system."

Vice Minister Kim Yoonsang responded, "Although the supplementary budget proposal is in its final stages, we will thoroughly review and reflect these requests," promising to include budget support for wildfire-affected areas.

The government plans to submit the supplementary budget proposal to the National Assembly on the 18th, aiming for approval by the end of April.

It is expected that sufficient budget for wildfire recovery will be included in the supplementary budget proposal.

Park Hyungsoo stated, "For projects not included in this supplementary budget proposal, we will actively work to ensure their inclusion during the National Assembly's review process," adding, "We will also do our best to include wildfire recovery projects in next year's budget proposal."