Yoon: "Cut All Subsidies to the Interest Cartel, Allocate 100% Compensation to Affected Residents" (Comprehensive)

President Yoon's Closing Remarks at Cabinet Meeting
Urges Generous Fiscal Support for Citizens Affected by Heavy Rain Damage

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 18th ordered, "Cut all political subsidies to interest cartels and corruption cartels, and allocate them 100% to compensate farmers affected by crop damage and villages affected by landslides."

According to Lee Do-woon, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, President Yoon made these remarks during his closing statement at the Cabinet meeting, emphasizing to Cabinet members the need to swiftly advance recovery and support efforts for areas damaged by record-breaking heavy rains.

President Yoon also said, "We implemented fiscal austerity to spend money on things like this," and repeatedly urged, "Spend the budget generously to wipe away the tears of the people."

In his opening remarks at the live-broadcast Cabinet meeting, President Yoon raised his voice, saying, "The people's tax money should be actively used to wipe away the tears of the people caused by disasters," and "All subsidies to interest cartels and corruption cartels must be abolished, and the funds should be redirected to flood recovery and damage compensation."

President Yoon also shared his visit to the landslide damage site in Gamcheon-myeon, Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, immediately after returning from his tour of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine the previous morning, and called for a reorganization of the disaster management system.

He urged, "We must have a digital monitoring system that can operate systematically even under normal circumstances," and "The central government and local governments must collaborate on a pan-government level, and experts should participate."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He criticized the disaster response methods of public officials and ordered structural improvements. "We cannot respond with the methods used so far to unprecedented abnormal weather. We must not respond that way," he said, emphasizing repeatedly that the perception of "It’s a natural disaster, so it can’t be helped" must be discarded.

In particular, President Yoon stressed, "All relevant ministries and local governments must not let their guard down even for a moment until the rainy season is completely over," and "Remember that first and foremost is the safety of the people, and second is also the safety of the people." He continued, "Heads of local governments, police, fire departments, and the Korea Forest Service must mobilize all human resources of their respective departments," and pointed out, "This is an emergency situation where the safety of the people is at stake. The military is also being mobilized, isn’t it?"

Earlier, at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting he presided over the previous day, President Yoon criticized that the casualties caused by the recent heavy rains occurred due to "poor management of dangerous areas" and "insufficient preemptive evacuation measures."

The Office for Government Policy Coordination’s Public Service Management Office launched an investigation into the fatal accident at the Osong Gungpyeong 2 underground underpass in Chungbuk immediately after President Yoon’s criticism of the heavy rain response. They plan to review safety measures taken by local governments, police, and fire departments. Administrative records related to the temporary embankment construction on the Miho River are also under investigation. In particular, they are expected to focus on clarifying why timely traffic control was not implemented despite prior 112 emergency calls requesting it.

Meanwhile, regarding his tour of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, President Yoon stated, "It is impossible to pursue global economic cooperation without global security cooperation with NATO member countries and partner countries," and added, "Security cooperation forms the foundation for economic cooperation and advanced science and technology cooperation."

He further emphasized, "We must show through actions, not just words, that we support Ukraine and share values," and "Strengthening such global security cooperation is directly strengthening economic cooperation."

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