Kim Dong-yeon: "Provide disaster relief budget quickly without distinguishing between municipal, provincial, and national funds"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gab-dong] Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon, who visited the site of the Pocheon shell misfire accident, instructed: "Do not distinguish between municipal, provincial, and national funds, but 'stand in the residents' position' and proactively support damage recovery."

The governor visited the village of Nogok-ri, Idong-myeon, Pocheon City, where the shell misfire accident occurred, and gave on-site instructions to promptly implement the relocation of disaster victims and provision of emergency living stabilization allowances, as well as treatment cost support for the injured, so that residents can quickly return to normal life.

Upon arriving at the accident site, Governor Kim received a situation briefing and confirmed and inspected whether the injured had any life-threatening conditions, whether there was risk of additional explosions, and whether there were any setbacks in residents' relocation measures, while touring every corner of the village.

During this process, he instructed Administrative Vice Governor Oh Seok-seok to take measures to allocate budget as quickly as possible to support resident damage recovery, and specifically emphasized psychological support for residents.

Governor Kim particularly instructed regarding precision safety inspections of houses and facilities planned by the province: "(Do not limit to damaged households) conduct comprehensive safety inspections," ordering a "full-scale safety inspection."

After touring the village, Governor Kim encouraged the efforts of firefighters engaged in accident recovery and provincial government employees visiting homes to investigate damage conditions, then held a meeting to listen to residents' voices.

At this meeting, Governor Kim said: "This is something incomprehensible, something we have never heard or seen," and stated: "I will firmly tell (the central government and military authorities) to thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and clarify the truth in a crystal-clear manner without leaving even the slightest doubt."

Village residents said: "This incident is a 'disaster,'" and requested help in having the accident area proclaimed a 'special disaster zone.'

Governor Kim Dong-yeon then told the Vice Minister of the Interior and Safety present at the meeting: "Although this accident differs from natural disasters and may not meet the criteria for declaring a special disaster zone, did not the nation provide the cause? Please consider it actively. (In addition to this oral request) we will make an official request," immediately accepting residents' requests and conveying the position to the central government.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety responded: "We will actively consider it."