Patrols Strengthened, Guidance to Emergency Shelters and Relief Rooms
Focused Efforts on Protection Linkage Through On-Site Counseling
Busan City has initiated emergency inspections in response to the cold wave.
On December 28, Busan City announced that it had conducted on-site inspections on December 26 to protect vulnerable groups such as homeless people and persons with disabilities, in preparation for the sharp drop in temperature following the cold wave advisory.
This inspection was a measure to prevent casualties caused by the severe year-end cold wave. City officials personally visited the sites to examine the cold wave response system. As of November, the number of vulnerable people in the Busan area was tallied at 314,095, including 247,665 elderly people living alone, 633 homeless individuals, 936 residents of jjokbang (small room) housing, and 64,861 people with severe disabilities.
The city first visited the Comprehensive Support Center for the Homeless to check the operation of emergency shelters, the status of shelter management, and the provision of meals. Currently, the city operates three Comprehensive Support Centers for the Homeless and two jjokbang counseling centers as shelters, and the Busan Hope Dream Center provides free meals twice a day, every day without holidays.
A Busan city official is inspecting the cold wave response status at the Homeless Comprehensive Support Center.
Inspections also continued at facilities for persons with disabilities and the elderly. The city checked the operation of heating systems, winter safety management, and emergency response systems at residential facilities for the disabled, welfare centers for the disabled, support centers for elderly people living alone, and welfare centers for the elderly, and listened to difficulties faced on site. The city emphasized the need to strengthen inspections of essential facilities such as heating, electricity, and water at residential facilities for the disabled, and to maintain emergency contact systems to enable immediate response to emergencies during cold waves. The care services and free meal operations for elderly people living alone and other vulnerable seniors were also inspected.
In particular, the city will strengthen protection for homeless people during this cold wave period. Patrols will be increased, guidance to emergency shelters and relief rooms will be actively provided, and protection links will be promoted through on-site counseling. To this end, the city is operating a joint response team and an on-site dedicated response team, which include city and district officials, police, fire departments, and staff from homeless facilities. The dedicated team will operate for five months, from November this year to March next year.
To prepare for emergency situations during winter, emergency shelters are operated year-round, and in addition to emergency relief rooms in cooperation with nearby lodging businesses, temporary housing costs such as monthly rent for gosiwon (small room accommodations) and transportation expenses are supported for up to three months.
Jung Taegi, Director of the Busan City Welfare Bureau, stated, "We have inspected the field-centered protection system to ensure that vulnerable groups do not suffer due to the year-end cold wave," and added, "We will continue to do our utmost in responding to the cold wave so that vulnerable groups can safely get through the winter."
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