Gyeongbuk Province decided to provide emergency disaster relief funds of 300,000 won per person to more than 270,000 residents of Uiseong County, Andong City, Cheongsong County, Yeongyang County, and Yeongdeok County who suffered damage from the forest fire. Considering that the entire village has burned down, the province will provide temporary dwellings as emergency housing to allow the disaster victims to carry out normal agricultural activities.
Lee Cheol-woo, the governor of Gyeongbuk, said on this day, "I am very sorry to have caused concern to the public due to the unprecedented mega forest fire," and announced a five-point plan for responding to the forest fire.
Gyeongbuk Province will prioritize providing emergency disaster relief funds of 300,000 won per person to the more than 270,000 residents affected by the forest fire in five cities and counties, and will request the central government to prepare measures. The governor noted, "We will hold a special session of the Provincial Assembly on the 31st to ensure support can be provided immediately."
Gyeongbuk Province plans to quickly provide dwellings to disaster victims. The governor explained, "As it is the farming season, the disaster victims need to live near houses where they can engage in agricultural activities," but added, "It will take more than a month to prepare temporary housing."
Before the dwellings are ready, there is a plan to move disaster victims to government and corporations training facilities, hotels, resorts, and immediately available structures such as air domes.
The governor stated that in many places, entire villages have disappeared due to this forest fire and stressed that the government should support building houses for residents to live in for a lifetime. He urged the government, "Please create an opportunity for transformation so that we can say 200 or 300 years from now, 'The village was burned down, but it remains as a cultural heritage.'"
To minimize damage in case of a recurrence of disasters like this forest fire, Gyeongbuk Province will promote a complete overhaul of the forest fire response system. It plans to introduce systems capable of extinguishing fires at night, including drones for forest fire suppression and unmanned firefighting robots, and to revise the standard manual for forest fire evacuation to reflect escape guidelines based on wind speed.
Additionally, the province decided to review the use of military transport aircraft to respond to large forest fires in cooperation with the government. Plans to develop firefighting vehicles specialized for forest fire suppression in mountainous terrain will also be promoted.
For disaster victims, relief activities will be conducted at a level comparable to a state of emergency. Essential items such as blankets and toiletries will be provided to ensure that there is no shortage. Mobile clinics and psychological counseling centers will also be operated to support the health of the disaster victims.