Kim In-ho, Chair of Seoul Metropolitan Council, Leads Aid for Wildfire Victims in Uljin, Samcheok, and Donghae...Proposes Nationwide Local Councils' Participation

Chairman Kim In-ho Donates Personal Funds through Community Chest of Korea... Seoul City Council Members and Secretariat Staff to Participate in Fundraising... Proposes Active Participation from Local Councils Nationwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Kim In-ho, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party of Korea, Dongdaemun-gu District 3), proposed active participation from local councils nationwide and decided to promote fundraising activities at the council level as the second step to help disaster victims affected by wildfires in the Uljin, Samcheok, and Donghae areas.

As the first participant in the fundraising campaign, Chairman Kim In-ho donated a personal contribution to the Community Chest of Korea and plans to encourage participation in the fundraising activities by 109 Seoul city council members and the council secretariat staff.

Chairman Kim stated, “Residents of Uljin and Samcheok, who had to endure a bleak period due to COVID-19, are now suffering from wildfire damage, which may cause them to lose hope in life,” adding, “Although Seoul City has decided to support disaster recovery funds and relief supplies, we considered whether we could provide additional help, which led to the decision to proactively promote fundraising activities at the Seoul Metropolitan Council level.”

He also emphasized, “Understanding the harsh realities of one region ultimately means understanding another region,” and said, “At this moment, as we look toward the era of Local Autonomy 2.0 and rewrite the history of local self-government, I hope local councils nationwide will join in collecting donations to demonstrate our community spirit.”

Chairman Kim currently serves as the Chairman of the Association of Chairpersons of City and Provincial Councils of the Republic of Korea and plans to immediately send official letters to chairpersons of city and provincial councils nationwide to request cooperation in collecting donations for disaster victims.

He added, “Although there were no casualties, we are also considering restoration and support measures for the fire in Guryong Village, which caused disaster victims,” and said, “At the council level, we will actively manage not only damage recovery but also efforts to prevent additional wildfires within Seoul.”

Chairman Kim In-ho of the Seoul Metropolitan Council proposed cooperation measures at the Seoul City level, including emergency support of relief supplies, for wildfire recovery in Gangwon Province the day before, and Seoul City immediately decided to provide 400 million KRW in disaster recovery funds.

In response, Chairman Kim expressed gratitude to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who demonstrated cooperative governance with the council, through his personal SNS.

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