Interior Minister Lee Sang-min pledged Wednesday to completely overhaul the country's disaster management system to better deal with natural disasters caused by climate change, one day after he was reinstated upon a court rejection of his impeachment.
The minister made the remark during a videoconference with central and regional government officials held to examine the national disaster management system.
Lee was reinstated as interior minister the previous day as the Constitutional Court rejected the National Assembly's impeachment of him on Feb. 8. Lee's duties as interior minister had since been suspended.
"A fundamental measure is necessary to reform the current paradigm of natural disaster response," Lee said, adding that the current national disaster management system is lagging behind the speed of climate change.
The minister pledged to completely update the disaster prevention standards, such as those for disaster control and evacuation, to match the climate crisis situation in the past five years and rewrite related safety manuals.
"It is important that the disaster management system currently focusing on post-disaster recovery is wholly turned into one focusing on prevention," he said, vowing to drastically expand the budget for disaster prevention and recovery.
The minister also said the government will analyze disaster management problems detected in the latest heavy rains and come up with countermeasures, and instructed officials to do their utmost to prevent the further loss of lives and recover damaged facilities.
Lee was to travel to the southeastern regions of Bonghwa and Yeongju in North Gyeongsang Province later in the day to inspect rain damage. The two areas have been designated as special disaster zones over deadly downpours
Source: Yonhap News Agency