Song Miryeong: "Wildfire Prevention Comes First... Agricultural By-Products Must Be Shredded, Not Illegally Burned"

Urgent Video Conference of City and Provincial Directors of Agricultural Policy on Wildfire Prevention

On the 23rd, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Miryeong requested, "Please make efforts to strengthen guidance and publicity for farmers regarding systems such as the agricultural by-product shredding support program so that agricultural by-products are not disposed of through illegal burning."

On this day, Minister Song urgently presided over a video conference of city and provincial directors of agricultural policy (hereinafter the meeting) on wildfire prevention at the Government Complex Seoul, and said, "The illegal burning of agricultural by-products can lead to large-scale wildfires even from minor carelessness, and therefore cannot be permitted under any circumstances."

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, is presiding over a video conference of city and provincial agricultural policy directors (hereafter the meeting) for wildfire prevention at the Government Complex Seoul on the 23rd. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

This meeting was convened at a time when preparations for farming are in full swing, in order to request that each city and province strengthen proactive, wildfire-prevention-focused responses so as to block in advance the escalation of illegal burning of agricultural by-products generated during farming preparations into large-scale wildfires.

Officials from the Korea Forest Service, the Rural Development Administration, and city and provincial directors of agricultural policy attended the meeting to share the recent status of wildfire occurrences and prevention measures, plans for support for shredding agricultural by-products, and measures for handling agricultural by-products and preventing illegal burning, and to discuss ways to enhance inter-agency cooperation.

Recently, due to dry weather and strong winds, wildfires have continued to occur nationwide. In response, the Korea Forest Service has moved up the "spring wildfire prevention period" from the originally scheduled February 1 to January 20 and has also activated the "Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters" earlier than planned, in order to prevent spring wildfires and curb their spread. In line with the wildfire disaster crisis response manual, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is also operating a "Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters support situation room" to support the Korea Forest Service's wildfire prevention and firefighting efforts.