Ministry of the Interior and Safety "Promoting Preemptive Measures for Heavy Rain and Typhoons at the Whole-Government Level"

'Prioritizing Minimization of Human Casualties'

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 7th that it will promote preemptive measures against natural disasters in summer (heavy rain and typhoons) together with 24 central government ministries and related agencies by May.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has set the top priority goal for this summer's heavy rain and typhoons as ‘minimizing casualties.’ First, it will identify areas at risk of casualties and establish safety measures. To this end, in addition to the previously managed casualty-prone areas such as riversides and underground passages, new types that caused casualties last summer, such as densely populated semi-basement areas and solar panels installed on slopes adjacent to private houses, will be newly identified and safety facilities inspected.

Additionally, drainage channels and drainage pump stations, which are flood control facilities, will be maintained. Before the rainy season, dredging work and removal of foreign substances in rivers and drainage channels will be completed to secure drainage capacity, and major flood control facilities such as drainage pump stations will undergo maintenance and test operations.

Finally, the system for disseminating risk situations and damage recovery, such as disaster text messages and electronic display boards, will be organized.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will conduct a joint central inspection in early May to check and encourage local governments' preparedness, and after completing preemptive measures, will conduct drills assuming heavy rain exceeding 100mm per hour (by the end of May) to finalize the preparedness status.

Kim Seong-ho, Director of the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “Due to the normalized climate change, it is difficult to predict what kind of risk situations will unfold this summer,” and added, “The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and related agencies will thoroughly promote preemptive measures to protect the precious lives and property of the people from natural disasters.”

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