Seoul Metropolitan Council People Power Party, Comprehensive Review of Seoul City's Heatwave Measures

People Power Party of Seoul Metropolitan Council Holds Expanded Meeting of Standing Committee Chairpersons and Floor Leaders to Conduct Comprehensive Review of Seoul’s Heatwave Countermeasures

Kim Hyun-ki, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, ordered thorough implementation of heatwave countermeasures at the Seoul Metropolitan Heatwave Countermeasures Meeting.

The People Power Party of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Representative Choi Ho-jung) held an expanded meeting of standing committee chairpersons and floor leaders at the People Power Party meeting room in the Seoul Metropolitan Council at 2 p.m. on the 3rd to review Seoul’s comprehensive countermeasures against summer heatwaves.

At the meeting, the People Power Party’s leadership and standing committee chairpersons, including Chair Kim Hyun-ki, Vice Chair Nam Chang-jin, Representative Choi Ho-jung, Operations Committee Chair Park Hwan-hee, Administration and Autonomy Committee Chair Kim Won-tae, Planning and Economy Committee Chair Lee Sook-ja, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee Chair Lee Jong-hwan, Health and Welfare Committee Chair Kang Seok-joo, and Urban Planning and Balance Committee Chair Do Moon-yeol, participated along with the floor leaders including Senior Deputy Representative Kim Gil-young, Political Affairs Deputy Representative Heo Hoon, Legislative Deputy Representative Seo Sang-ryeol, Policy Deputy Chairs Moon Sung-ho and Chae Soo-ji, Regional Deputy Representatives Seo Ho-yeon, Lee Byung-yoon, Kim Tae-soo, Choi Min-gyu, Spokespersons Ok Jae-eun and Kim Jong-gil.

From the Seoul city government, related department heads such as Choi Jin-seok, Director of Disaster and Safety Management Office, Lee Soo-yeon, Director of Welfare Policy Office, and the Director of Facilities at the Urban Infrastructure Headquarters attended and explained the progress of projects to prepare for heatwave disasters.

Currently, nationwide heatwave warnings are in effect, and it is expected that the hot weather exceeding 30 degrees Celsius will continue for more than ten days in August. This meeting was convened to confirm Seoul’s proactive responses and ongoing measures to prevent damage to vulnerable groups who lack adequate cooling facilities and to discuss future plans.

Seoul reported that it has established a comprehensive heatwave countermeasure plan this year, setting up a Heatwave Comprehensive Support Situation Room (Disaster and Safety Management Office) and a Heat Illness Emergency Room Monitoring System (Citizen Health Bureau) under the Second Deputy Mayor, and is promoting 119 rescue and emergency response activities (Fire and Disaster Headquarters) to prepare for heatwaves.

At the meeting, protection measures separately operated by the Disaster and Safety Office for construction site workers among vulnerable groups and by the Welfare Policy Office for homeless people, residents of jjokbangchon (small-room villages), and low-income elderly living alone were reported.

In particular, for vulnerable elderly citizens, Seoul plans to provide cooling cost support of 50,000 KRW per household to 360,000 low-income households including jjokbangchon residents, and to support social welfare facilities with monthly amounts ranging from 100,000 to 4,000,000 KRW for two months. To prepare for tropical nights, Seoul is operating three “Jjokbangchon Night Heat Shelters” for residents of jjokbangchon without cooling facilities.

Additionally, as part of tailored support for vulnerable groups, a total of approximately 4,200 locations including three types of welfare centers, senior centers, community centers, and private cultural facilities have been designated as heat shelters. Street counseling teams for the homeless are also operating and distributing relief supplies.

Heatwave mitigation measures introduced include operating water sprinkling trucks along main roads (Climate and Environment Headquarters), running cooling roads at 13 locations including City Hall Station, Jongno 3-ga Station, Balsan Station, and Magoknaru Station (Disaster and Safety Management Office), and managing 4,441 locations with shade shelters, cooling fog, and smart rest areas to alleviate urban heat island effects.

The council members emphasized that heatwaves are disasters that threaten lives, especially for vulnerable groups, and demanded that Seoul City make every effort to protect and prevent damage to these groups.

They urged thorough preemptive measures to prevent casualties among vulnerable groups during the August heatwave, including checking on and supporting residents of jjokbangchon without cooling facilities, shantytown residents who cannot avoid natural disasters due to inadequate living conditions, and elderly living alone with weak social networks.

Furthermore, special attention was requested to ensure the safety of workers at sites such as tower crane operators and heavy equipment drivers who work in isolated environments and find it difficult to take adequate rest.

Choi Ho-jeong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is giving a greeting before the meeting begins.

Representative Choi Ho-jung, who convened the meeting, stated, “Summer heatwaves are not simply hot weather but natural disasters as defined by the Disaster and Safety Act. This meeting was organized to discuss related countermeasures with Seoul City to ensure perfect preparedness against heatwave disasters, including comfortable daily life and health management for all citizens, and prevention and safety management of heat-related illnesses for vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone, homeless people, jjokbangchon residents, and outdoor site workers.”

Representative Choi emphasized, “To ensure that rising summer temperatures due to climate change do not become extreme suffering threatening life and death for anyone, the People Power Party of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, as the ruling and majority party, will cooperate with Seoul City to safeguard the safety and health of Seoul citizens.”

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