Review Committee Members Contributing to Earthquake Relief Named Honorary Citizens of Pohang City!

Recognition of Contributions to Earthquake Damage Relief and Recovery under the Pohang Earthquake Special Act

107,787 Cases Recognized as Victims and 493.9 Billion KRW in Support Funds Reviewed and Approved

Mayor Lee Kang-deok celebrating with the committee members who became honorary citizens of Pohang City. (From the left: Committee Member Kim Hye-ran (honorary citizen awardee), Mayor Lee Kang-deok, Committee Member Kim Mu-gyeom (honorary citizen awardee), Committee Member Geum Tae-hwan, Committee Member Lee Jae-gu absent)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] On the 19th, Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang awarded the ‘Pohang City Honorary Citizen Certificate’ to three members of the Pohang Earthquake Damage Relief Deliberation Committee?Kim Mugeom (Law Firm Logos), Kim Hyeran (Professor at Joongbu University), and Lee Jaegu (Executive Director at the General Insurance Association)?in recognition of their significant contributions to the recognition of Pohang earthquake victims and the payment of support funds.

The committee members who received the honorary citizen certificates on this day were acknowledged for their contributions to the recovery of Pohang earthquake victims by serving as damage relief deliberators for about two and a half years, deciding on victim eligibility and support fund allocation under the Pohang Earthquake Special Act.

According to the city, the number of applications and submissions for victims under the Pohang Earthquake Special Act totaled 126,071 cases. Through the deliberations of the committee members, 107,787 cases were recognized as victims, and support funds amounting to 493.9 billion KRW (an average of 4.58 million KRW per person) have been fully disbursed.

During this process, the committee members worked hard to support and restore citizens who suffered especially mental damage by repeatedly operating a special mental health subcommittee to establish more detailed criteria for recognizing mental damage, which had no detailed standards for practical damage support.

They significantly contributed to practical damage support by raising the support limit for common areas of large-scale apartment complexes from the existing 120 million KRW to 500 million KRW and securing an additional 80% support for the excess amount when the support limit was exceeded.

Additionally, for some apartment complexes such as Hanmi Janggan Mansion, which suffered severe damage at the time of the earthquake but were not recognized as ‘destroyed,’ a special issue committee was formed. After visiting the damage sites directly and multiple committee discussions, a ‘repair impossible’ judgment was reached, enabling displaced residents who had been staying at the temporary shelter in Heunghae Indoor Gymnasium to return home after 1,435 days.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “The role of the deliberation committee members was very significant in the damage relief support under the Pohang Earthquake Special Act. I am very grateful for their utmost efforts to ensure sufficient damage relief from the perspective of the affected residents.”

In response, committee member Kim Hyeran said, “While serving as a member of the Pohang Earthquake Damage Relief Deliberation Committee, I deeply empathized with the pain of the residents in the Pohang area caused by the earthquake through direct visits to the damage sites and the deliberation and resolution process. I hope that the damage relief support under this special act has helped the Pohang earthquake victims overcome their hardships even a little.”

The Pohang Earthquake Damage Relief Deliberation Committee is a deliberative body established based on the Pohang Earthquake Special Act, composed of nine government and civilian members, and has been performing duties related to the relief and support of Pohang earthquake victims for about two and a half years from May 29, 2020, to November 28, 2022.

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