[Full Text] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi-do, Press Conference on Safety Measures for Residents

Dear residents of Gyeonggi Province, since the 10.29 disaster, we have been going through sorrowful days.

As a public official of the Republic of Korea, I feel ashamed for failing to protect the lives and safety of our residents and citizens.

Once again, I would like to express my deepest condolences and apologies to the families of the victims here today.

Thirty-eight residents of Gyeonggi Province lost their lives in this disaster.

Gyeonggi Province operated a joint memorial altar for a total of ten days until late at night on November 9, even after the official “National Mourning Period” ended on November 5.

The “Online Memorial Hall” on the Gyeonggi Provincial Government website will continue to be maintained.

At the joint memorial altar set up on the first floor of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government building, portraits of two victims were enshrined.

“This was an accident that could have been prevented. It is the responsibility of the state.”

“The funeral period was actually only one day.”

A mother’s words felt unbearably heavy.

Another was a devoted daughter who had donated bone marrow to her father three years ago.

“I will earn money and show filial piety!” “Stick a straw into my bank account!”

These were the words in a letter she sent on her father’s birthday.

Every time I heard the stories of each victim, there was not a single one without a heartbreaking story.

The memorial altar for 156 victims without portraits or spirit tablets is “abstract.”

However, the stories of each victim and the portraits and spirit tablets of each one come to us not as “abstract” but as “reality.”

This is a “vivid pain” and “empathy” that feels not like someone else’s issue but as if it were my own.

There were as many as twenty-six foreign victims.

This is not only a disaster of the Republic of Korea but also an international incident.

Foreign media such as the LA Times point out the “lack of national leadership and failure of the crisis management system.”

Ultimately, this disaster is a matter concerning the “national dignity” of the Republic of Korea.

It is truly devastating that such a disaster occurred in the Republic of Korea, one of the world’s top ten economies.

We believe it is our duty to the victims, the injured, their families, and the residents to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.

Gyeonggi Province will take the lead.

Above all, the most important thing is to prevent such disasters from occurring, to establish a system that can respond immediately in crisis situations, and to ensure it actually functions.

The public service must honestly admit that it has not escaped bureaucratic thinking.

Although there are systems and manuals, there are limitations in their actual operation.

Many cases are still supplier-centered rather than demand-centered.

It must change now.

Gyeonggi Province will start first.

First, we will create the Gyeonggi Province “Safety Prevention Hotline.”

Currently, Gyeonggi Province has a “Resident Safety Inspection Request System” for facility safety.

It has been the first of its kind nationwide since 1999.

We will innovate by fully expanding and reorganizing this system.

We will simplify the request procedures on the Gyeonggi Provincial Government website as much as possible and create a dedicated phone number, 010-3990-7722, and a KakaoTalk Gyeonggi channel.

This will allow any resident to easily and conveniently submit requests.

The scope of requests will not be limited to facility safety.

We will promptly inspect and respond to residents’ requests regarding various safety risks in workplaces, urban life, social disasters, and more.

After the Suwon three-women incident, we created the “Emergency Welfare Hotline” at 010-4419-7722, which has been successful in discovering welfare blind spots.

The last four digits 7722 will become a symbol of the “Gyeonggi Province Hotline.”

In the future, emergency situations will be handled via 119, and safety prevention inspections via 010-3990-7722, making access easy.

Second, we will establish the “Resident Safety Innovation Team.”

The “Resident Safety Innovation Team” will play a leading role in innovating the “resident safety system” by utilizing expert knowledge and local information to evaluate and analyze public safety management, derive practical policy measures, and prepare mid- to long-term visions and fundamental alternatives.

There can be gaps in safety policies due to bureaucratic thinking limitations.

We will fill these gaps confirmed again by this disaster.

The safety awareness and culture of residents are also important.

Through the activities of the “Resident Safety Innovation Team,” we will raise residents’ awareness and participation.

The head of the Innovation Team will be someone who knows the region well and is passionate about it, and private experts in architecture, civil engineering, environment, industry, health, social disasters, and victims of social disasters will also be able to participate.

Third, we will strengthen ICT-based smart safety management.

Recently, one of the miners who was dramatically rescued from being buried in Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk, said, “The day before the accident, they came out for a safety inspection and returned without a speck of dust on their clothes.”

Along with on-site safety inspections that involve hands-on checks, we will also conduct ICT technology-based remote safety inspections.

For example, we will install IoT sensors on retaining walls or embankments at risk of collapse to conduct real-time safety inspections of tilt, cracks, bulging, vibrations, and more.

We will further strengthen disaster-vulnerable facility inspections through ICT safety inspection and analysis technologies already under research, such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, big data, drones, and smart glasses.

Fourth, we will conduct systematic “joint social disaster drills” to respond to new types of disasters.

Unlike natural disasters, experience and know-how in responding to social disasters are still lacking.

Also, as confirmed in this disaster, organic connections between related agencies and organizations are insufficient.

In “multi-dense areas” where various types of social disaster risks always exist, the province, fire headquarters, police, schools, and the private sector will conduct regular joint drills together.

We will not stop at systems and manuals but will make practical preparations so that they can actually function.

Finally, we urge the central government.

A “National Safety Advisory Council” under the direct control of the President must be established.

“National safety” is the top priority of national policy.

Currently, the constitutional advisory bodies directly under the President cover three areas: national economy, science and technology, and peaceful unification.

National safety must be elevated to this level.

Even before constitutional amendments, forming a “National Safety Advisory Council” and raising its status in the future would be a symbolic and visible measure to clarify the priority of safety in national policy.

Dear residents of Gyeonggi Province and fellow citizens sharing in this sorrow,

Many citizens say, “The state was absent in this disaster.”

There are also self-deprecating laments of “every man for himself.”

The “absence of the state” means the “absence of responsibility.”

In all processes?accident prevention, accident response, and post-accident recovery?“responsibility” is nowhere to be seen.

“Avoiding responsibility” and “shifting responsibility” will not allow us to move forward even a step from the current situation.

The people are testing the government and public service’s will and attitude toward the 10.29 disaster.

Even now, active measures including sincere reflection, introspection, and personal accountability are needed at a level that the people can accept.

Only then will the next steps be possible.

Gyeonggi Province will not stop at the measures announced today.

We will continue to innovate for the safety of our residents.

Thank you.

November 10, 2022
Governor of Gyeonggi Province Kim Dong-yeon

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