‘Zero Casualties’ … Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan, Directly Oversees Summer Disaster Response

Busan City will conduct a "Summer Natural Disaster Preparedness Inspection Meeting and On-site Inspection" on the 14th, chaired by Mayor Park Hyung-jun.

On May 22, the city announced that it has established and announced a "Comprehensive Summer Natural Disaster (Flood, Heatwave) Countermeasure" with the goal of "Zero Casualties" in preparation for summer natural disasters, and stated that it will make every effort to prevent and respond to disasters.

This inspection meeting and on-site inspection were arranged as part of this full-scale response, with Mayor Park Hyung-jun personally overseeing the progress in all areas of the comprehensive summer natural disaster countermeasures.

The city held the inspection meeting at 9:10 a.m. in the City Hall video conference room. Attendees included Mayor Park Hyung-jun, who presided over the meeting, heads of Busan City departments, Busan Metropolitan Office of Education, Busan Regional Meteorological Administration, Namhae Regional Maritime Police Agency, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korean Red Cross, the 53rd Army Division, and representatives from 16 districts and counties, as well as related disaster agencies.

Through this inspection meeting, the city will discuss inter-agency cooperation matters to promote summer flood and heatwave countermeasures, including checking the emergency response system, pre-inspection of disaster-prone areas, installation of disaster prevention projects and mitigation facilities, resident control and evacuation plans, and safety management for vulnerable groups.

The main points of this year’s flood countermeasures established by the city include ▲ the nation’s first pilot operation of the "Urban Flood Integrated Information System," ▲ installation of safety facilities to prevent manhole falls, ▲ raising disaster prevention performance targets, and ▲ support for installing "flood prevention facilities (water barriers)" in disaster-prone areas such as semi-basement houses, focusing on reducing urban flood damage.

Additionally, the main points of the heatwave countermeasures are ▲ expansion of cooling shelters and heatwave mitigation facilities, ▲ strengthening management of vulnerable groups such as support for cooling costs at senior centers, and ▲ operation of an emergency room surveillance system for heat-related illnesses, with the core aim of preventing casualties.

Busan City Hall.

Following the inspection meeting, starting at 3:05 p.m., Mayor Park Hyung-jun will personally visit flood-prone areas to inspect the sites.

The inspection sites include three locations that suffered damage from flooding caused by river overflow in 2020: Jaseongdae Apartments in Dong-gu, the mouth of Dongcheon Stream, and Beomil 2 District. The Dong-gu District Mayor and the Busan Police Chief are expected to accompany the on-site inspection.

Mayor Park will first visit Jaseongdae Apartments in Dong-gu, a low-lying area that is frequently flooded during heavy rains, to check the overall operation of the evacuation system, including designated evacuation locations and evacuation officers.

He will also personally verify the demonstration process of the water barrier panels installed with budget support, carefully ensuring that no casualties or property damage occur due to residential flooding.

Afterwards, he plans to visit the mouth of Dongcheon Stream to inspect the recently installed flood defense wall as part of the river maintenance project. Busan City stated that the flood defense wall is expected to reduce the risk of flooding in this area, which frequently overflowed due to the convergence of heavy rainfall flowing into the river and high tides near Busan Port.

Mayor Park will also visit Beomil 2 District, designated as a natural disaster risk improvement zone where maintenance projects are underway, to check the progress of the maintenance work and urge prompt project implementation to prevent flood damage.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun of Busan City said, "Through this inspection meeting and on-site inspection, we will thoroughly review the progress of all areas of the comprehensive summer natural disaster countermeasures and ensure that all agencies respond flawlessly and with full effort this summer."

He added, "In particular, disaster response-related agencies are requested to respond more thoroughly with the goal of zero casualties this summer by preventing urban flood damage in semi-basements and low-lying areas, proactively controlling underground passages, and actively evacuating residents in case of dangerous situations."

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