Interior Minister Orders Dispatch of Situation Management Officers to 7 Provinces for Heavy Rain

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min issued an emergency order today (July 8) to dispatch division-director-level on-site situation management officers to seven metropolitan cities and provinces, including Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, North Jeolla, and North Gyeongsang, where heavy rain is forecasted.

Minister Lee instructed the dispatched officers to inspect whether local governments' resident evacuation support systems are functioning properly and to check on preemptive measures taken for potential risk factors. He also ordered them to ensure thorough on-site response until the heavy rain subsides.

Furthermore, he urged officials to prevent any loss of life or property damage from the concentrated downpours, noting that heavy rain is expected during vulnerable hours such as at night and early morning.

Minister Lee emphasized the need to further strengthen emergency response systems between the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments, and to closely monitor real-time weather conditions.

In particular, he requested thorough advance inspections of areas vulnerable to landslides and steep slopes, and the preemptive closure of areas prone to flooding, such as underpasses.

He also ordered relevant agencies—including the Ministry of Environment, the Korea Forest Service, local governments, the police, and the fire department—to share risk information in real time and to ensure swift resident evacuations in dangerous situations.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecasted that as the stationary front moves north and south across the central region, heavy rain will fall across the country from early this morning until the night of July 9.

Accordingly, 80 to 150 mm of rain is expected over the next two days in the South Chungcheong and North Jeolla regions, with some areas seeing up to 200 mm or more.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.