Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheolwoo: "Secured 1.1228 Trillion KRW in Supplementary Budget for Wildfire Recovery, Will Execute Swiftly"

As Gyeongbuk Province is making all-out efforts for the swift recovery from the unprecedented damage caused by the massive wildfire, the province has achieved significant results, such as raising and expanding support standards for each area of damage and securing 1 trillion KRW in additional government funding. These achievements are raising expectations among affected residents for a rapid return to normal life.

The total recovery budget, finalized by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on May 2, amounts to 1.831 trillion KRW, combining 1.181 trillion KRW in national funds and 650 billion KRW in local funds. The plan focuses on stabilizing the housing and daily lives of affected residents and helping them return to their livelihoods.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Building

Specifically, for homes completely destroyed by the wildfire, the province plans to provide at least 100 million KRW in support, including existing support funds, additional support, and donations. Notably, the additional 60 million KRW in support this time is three times higher than the previous maximum government support of 20 million KRW.

For crops and agricultural facilities lost to the wildfire, the support unit price has been adjusted to reflect actual market prices, and the support rate has been increased. For the six crops most severely affected?apples, peaches, persimmons, cherries, pears, and garlic?the support unit price has been set at 100% of the actual transaction price, and the support rate has been raised from the previous 50% to 100%.

To support farmers struggling during the busy farming season, the number of eligible agricultural machinery items has been expanded from the previous 11 types to all 38 types. The support rate for agricultural machinery has been increased from 35% to 50%, and for livestock and agricultural facilities, the support rate has been raised from 35% to 45%.

In addition, as the wildfire caused significant damage to forest products, including the main pine mushroom production areas in northern Gyeongbuk, the recovery unit price for eight heavily affected forest products (chestnuts, bracken, landscaping trees, angelica tree shoots, walnuts, medicinal herbs, deodeok, and astringent persimmons) has been adjusted to between 1.1 and 4.3 times the previous level. For the approximately 980 pine mushroom farming households that suffered major losses, living expenses (1.2 million KRW for a two-person household) will be provided for two months.

This expansion and enhancement of support standards is largely the result of strong proposals made by Governor Lee Cheolwoo to relevant ministries and the National Assembly to ensure disaster recovery measures are realistic. As a result, disaster recovery projects are expected to gain further momentum.

Furthermore, Gyeongbuk Province secured a total of 1.1228 trillion KRW in national funds in the 2025 supplementary government budget, which passed the National Assembly plenary session on May 1.

Major projects include 594 billion KRW in disaster response funds to raise and expand support standards for recovery, 158.5 billion KRW for expanding the supply of public rental housing for wildfire victims, 100.8 billion KRW for disaster waste disposal costs, 166 billion KRW for emergency restoration to prevent landslides, and 18 billion KRW for village-level and recovery regeneration projects in wildfire-affected areas. These measures lay the foundation for prompt recovery efforts going forward.

Governor Lee Cheolwoo personally visited the National Assembly leadership and ruling and opposition lawmakers to emphasize the severity of the wildfire damage and the urgent need for recovery, in order to secure swift enactment of a special law and sufficient budget. The Gyeongbuk Provincial Council also quickly formed a Special Committee on Wildfire Countermeasures, visited affected areas to assess the damage, and worked to devise effective recovery measures. The council also adopted a resolution urging the enactment of a special law for the recovery and regional rebuilding from the massive wildfire, submitting it to the National Assembly and providing full support for residents' return to daily life.

In particular, the province quickly processed the first supplementary budget for living stabilization funds and the second supplementary budget for recovery, providing strong support for timely project implementation.

Gyeongbuk Province plans to actively utilize the pre-budget execution system to promptly use the secured national funds, while also using its own available resources to identify and implement additional support projects so that no residents are left out due to omissions in the Central Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters' recovery plan. This will ensure even more comprehensive and substantial support.

To this end, on May 8, a fiscal execution review meeting was held for the five cities and counties affected by the wildfire to check the execution rate of recovery budgets and to encourage the prompt disbursement of living stabilization funds, agricultural machinery support, and special grants.

Going forward, Gyeongbuk Province will hold regular working-level meetings until wildfire recovery is complete to manage the execution rate of recovery budgets and gather feedback on difficulties. At the same time, the province will strongly recommend to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety that the penalty for ordinary grants related to the allocation of living stabilization funds and private subsidy projects, as proposed at the meeting, be exempted as part of institutional improvements.

Gyeongbuk Province is also working to enact a "Special Act on Relief and Support for Massive Wildfire Damage" to systematically respond to large-scale disasters such as the recent massive wildfire and to provide practical recovery support for affected residents.

To this end, the province is actively consulting with the National Assembly's Special Committee on Wildfire Damage Support, central government agencies, and the National Assembly, with plans to accelerate wildfire recovery through prompt legislation and to establish a national-level proactive response system for future large-scale disasters.

Governor Lee Cheolwoo of Gyeongbuk Province stated, "We will do our utmost to execute the secured budget at an unprecedented speed and scale so that residents can quickly return to their daily lives," and emphasized, "Beyond simple recovery, we will turn this crisis into an opportunity for Gyeongbuk to overcome the pain of the wildfire and make a new leap forward."