Presidential Office: "Additional Damage Prevention, Rescue of Missing Persons, and Compensation Measures to Follow"

Landslide CCTV to be retrieved and used for analysis data

The Presidential Office stated on the 17th regarding support for damage caused by the heavy rain, "We will make every effort to prevent additional damage and continue thorough rescue operations for missing persons, and once these two issues are somewhat resolved, we will proceed with future measures such as compensation for damages."

Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, mentioned this during a briefing held at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon, saying, "The monsoon accompanied by heavy rain has not yet ended."

Regarding the landslide in Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, which President Yoon visited that day, the spokesperson explained, "In this area, it rained continuously for 20 days from the 26th of last month to the 15th of this month, except for just three days. Therefore, the mountain itself absorbed a lot of water, and when 400 to 500 mm of heavy rain poured again on the 14th and 15th, the entire mountain collapsed."

He added, "Due to climate change, weather patterns have become extreme, leading to such accidents. In a way, it can be said that this is largely a natural disaster. This accident symbolically represents how climate change is causing weather conditions to become extreme beyond our predictions, which we inevitably experienced in our daily lives."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The spokesperson introduced that President Yoon proposed securing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to use as analytical data for future landslide response planning and to develop landslide countermeasures different from those in the past.

Additionally, President Yoon pointed out that public officials should not have the perception that natural disasters are 'unavoidable' and must do their best to prepare post-disaster recovery measures.

Regarding criticism that there was no control tower to respond to the flood damage during President Yoon's overseas trip, a key official from the Presidential Office explained, "Before President Yoon's departure, he gave specific instructions several times to thoroughly prepare in advance and especially to evacuate residents in low-lying areas early. Whether the government properly implemented those instructions in responding to this flood will be reviewed at an appropriate stage."

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