Gyeongbuk Wildfire: Final Damage at 1.0505 Trillion Won, 3,587 Displaced... "Emergency Restoration to Be Completed by Mid-June"

On May 6, Gyeongbuk Province announced that it had finalized the damage assessment and restoration costs for the record-breaking large-scale wildfire (March 22?28) after review by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

This wildfire, which recorded the largest affected area since wildfire statistics began in 1986, burned 99,289 hectares and required a total of 149 hours to extinguish the main fire. It resulted in 2,246 households and 3,587 people being displaced.

Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province (right), and Kim Hakhong, Deputy Governor (left), are holding a wildfire damage countermeasure meeting.

The damage amounted to a staggering 1.0505 trillion won. Private property losses included 3,819 houses, 17,265 agricultural machines, 2,003 hectares of crops, 1,953 agricultural, livestock, and fishery facilities, and 31 fishing boats. More than 700 public facilities were also destroyed, including 58 village water and sewage systems and 31 cultural heritage sites.

The final restoration budget confirmed by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters totals 1.831 trillion won, comprising 1.181 trillion won from the national government and 650 billion won from local governments. This budget was allocated with a focus on stabilizing housing and livelihoods for affected residents and helping them return to work, considering the nature of the wildfire damage, which completely destroyed homes and household goods.

Given the unprecedented scale of the wildfire, Gyeongbuk Province has prepared the largest-ever restoration budget to provide stable housing for displaced residents and practical, tangible support measures to help those who lost their livelihoods quickly return to work.

First, for homes completely destroyed by the wildfire, the province plans to ensure that each household receives at least 100 million won, including existing government support, additional aid, and donations. Notably, the additional 60 million won in support is three times higher than the previous maximum government support of 20 million won.

The full cost of demolition and waste disposal for damaged homes will be covered by national funds. For the first time, support has also been approved for demolition and waste disposal costs for factories (such as those in agro-industrial complexes) and businesses (such as pensions), to reduce the financial burden on affected citizens and enable a swift return to operations.

For crops and agricultural facilities destroyed by the wildfire, the support unit price has been adjusted to reflect actual market values, and the support rate has been increased. For six severely affected crops and eight forest products, the support unit price has been set at 100% of real transaction prices, and the support rate has been raised from the previous 50% to 100%. The six severely affected crops are apples, peaches, persimmons, cherries, pears, and garlic, while the eight forest products are chestnuts, bracken, landscaping trees, angelica shoots, walnuts, medicinal plants, deodeok, and astringent persimmons.

In particular, for villages that were completely destroyed and face the risk of depopulation due to a high elderly population and loss of livelihoods, the province will implement a village community recovery support project. This project will be divided into three categories across 24 sites: special urban regeneration projects (2 sites under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport), village-level restoration and regeneration projects (5 sites), and village infrastructure development projects (17 sites).

To support farmers struggling during the busy farming season, the number of eligible agricultural machinery types for disaster aid will be expanded from 11 to all 38 types, and the support rate will be increased from 35% to 50%. The support rate for agricultural and livestock facilities will also be raised from 35% to 45%.

Direct and indirect support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners will be expanded. For small business owners who suffered total loss of their businesses, the support amount for livelihood stabilization will be doubled from 5 million won to 10 million won.

For affected SMEs and small business owners, policy funds with reduced interest rates will be provided, and compensation payments for those enrolled in the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid program will be expedited upon application.

In addition, through an amendment to the Framework Act on Disaster and Safety Management, support for the restoration and business stabilization of facilities damaged by small business owners will be specified. The amendment will also ensure that support for the restoration and business stabilization of SMEs under Article 2 of the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as for agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, will be applied retroactively to disasters occurring from March 21 until the law takes effect.

Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, stated, "We will mobilize all administrative resources to swiftly implement the restoration plans prepared by the government and the province, so that residents affected by the massive wildfire can return to their daily lives as quickly as possible and rebuild an even better living environment than before."

Governor Lee also said, "I am grateful that the government accepted most of Gyeongbuk Province's proposals for the affected residents and increased the restoration budget. Along with creative and improved restoration efforts, we will strive to complete emergency restoration and prevention projects in the wildfire-affected areas by mid-June to prevent secondary damage during the upcoming rainy season."