The government will complete the preliminary investigation of the areas affected by the forest fires by the 3rd.
Vice Administrator Lee Han-gyeong noted during the 12th meeting of the Central Disaster Response Headquarters for the Gyeongsangbuk-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Ulsan forest fire response held at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 2nd that "the preliminary investigation of the Central Disaster Damage Joint Investigation will be completed by tomorrow for the prompt recovery of the affected areas."
The scale of the forest damage caused by this fire disaster encompasses 11 regions and covers 48,238 hectares. This is 166 times the area of Yeouido in Seoul (290 hectares). By region, Uiseong in Gyeongsangbuk-do has the largest affected area at 12,821 hectares, followed by Andong in Gyeongsangbuk-do at 9,896 hectares, Cheongsong at 9,320 hectares, Yeongdeok at 8,050 hectares, Yeongyang at 5,070 hectares, and Sancheong and Hadong in Gyeongsangnam-do at 1,858 hectares.
Vice Administrator Lee said, "The government activated the inter-agency recovery support headquarters from yesterday to restore the daily lives of the disaster victims and the communities in the affected areas," adding, "We will establish a systematic and comprehensive recovery plan that can respond to the risk of local extinction in affected areas beyond just housing measures for the victims."
He also stated, "To ensure that agricultural disaster insurance payments are made quickly, we will deploy damage assessment personnel to the field and prioritize payments even before the final decision on the insurance amounts."
Vice Administrator Lee said, "Looking at the national precipitation levels until March of this year, we see that they are at about 60% of the average level, with some areas having only half of that," and urged the public to observe fire prevention rules while entering the mountains or visiting graves during this week's Cheongmyo and Hansik festivals.