Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok Requests Designation of Special Disaster Area and Increase in Support Funds

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeollanam-do, requested the designation of a special disaster area and an increase in disaster relief funds due to the heavy rain.

On the 11th, at the 41st Cabinet Meeting presided over by President Moon Jae-in, Governor Kim proposed five urgent issues necessary for emergency recovery: ▲designation of special disaster areas ▲increase in disaster relief funds ▲continuous preservation of balanced national projects such as local river maintenance projects ▲special support for houses damaged by flooding ▲support for special disaster safety budgets.

The emergency inspection cabinet meeting on heavy rain, held via video conference connecting Jeollanam-do and Gyeongnam-do, proceeded with reports on damage status and emergency recovery plans, as well as listening to proposals.

Governor Kim emphasized, “Due to the heavy rain, areas such as Gurye, Gokseong, Damyang, Hwasun, Naju, Jangseong, Hampyeong, and Yeonggwang have suffered significant human and material damage. Please promptly designate these as special disaster areas to support recovery efforts. Although the declaration of special disaster areas requires a certain amount of damage, considering the critical situation, it is necessary to designate them first.”

Regarding disaster relief funds, he proposed, “The support system for death and missing person relief funds, introduced in 2002, has remained at only 10 million KRW for 18 years. In honor of the victims, it should be increased to more than 20 million KRW.”

He also mentioned, “When houses are flooded, household goods and daily necessities become unusable, so the criteria for increase need to be raised. Currently, the flood disaster relief fund is 900,000 KRW, but it should be increased up to 5 million KRW depending on the extent of the damage.”

Additionally, he requested, “If the preservation of balanced national projects, which are temporarily operated for three years until 2022, ends, it will be inevitable to reduce or suspend river and agricultural infrastructure maintenance projects that suffered heavy damage like this rain. Therefore, I ask for continued national support after 2023. Also, in preparation for the expected increase in demand for new rural houses due to unexpected natural disasters such as heavy rain, please allocate additional rural housing improvement projects this year.”

He further explained, “Since more than 200 billion KRW of local funds have been supported for residents’ living expenses in response to COVID-19, considering the poor financial situation of local governments, government-level support for special disaster safety budgets is necessary.”

President Moon Jae-in promised, “The government will do everything possible, including declaring special disaster areas and providing disaster relief funds, so that citizens can quickly return to their daily lives.”

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young also expressed the government’s intention to support, stating, “In addition to the designation of special disaster areas, we will explore various ways to support local governments.”

Meanwhile, during the video conference, Governor Kim introduced Gurye County’s exemplary case, saying, “Although the city area was flooded over 2 meters due to unprecedented heavy rain, no casualties occurred thanks to the prompt evacuation of residents through CCTV, remote village broadcasting, and dispatching village officials to the site.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.