NK Times August 5, on the morning of July 31, the Ministry of Public Safety issued directives to provincial, city, and county public safety units and military units to investigate the flood damage that occurred in each region and mobilize all personnel for recovery work. Accordingly, it is known that the Yang gang Province Safety Bureau has ordered all personnel except those on duty to go to the flood-stricken areas to closely assess the damage situation and make all-out efforts to implement safety measures to the city and county safety departments and safety units.
In fact, on the afternoon of July 31, the Hyena City Safety Department divided the flood-stricken areas among each department, safety unit, and district office and dispatched safety officers and safety soldiers to the flood-stricken areas. However, in a situation where houses and farmland were already submerged and damage had occurred, it is known that the safety officers and safety soldiers only focused on identifying the number of flood-stricken households and surviving residents, and failed to provide any actual help to the victims.
Because of this, the flood-stricken residents are reportedly venting their complaints towards the safety officers and safety soldiers, saying, “We have nothing to ask for from the safety officers, and what are you going to do now?” In particular, since the safety officers’ on-site investigations are seen as identifying the residents’ movements, it is reported that there is a considerable war of nerves between the safety officers and the residents of the affected areas.
In relation to this, a resident of Hyena City expressed his feelings in a phone call with our newspaper on August 5, saying, “What the authorities need from the victims is a safe place to sleep and food, rather than sending security guards to the scene,” and “However, there are no such measures, and I don’t know what they are going to do by sending security guards.”
He continued, “The dispatch of security guards may be intended to assess the damage situation and come up with various measures, but for the residents who have been oppressed by them, it is not all that welcome to see security guards scurrying around right in front of us,” and “They don’t bring us even a single grain of rice or blanket, but they only seem to be intentional in blocking surveillance and sharing of complaints.”
On the same day, an official from Hyena City Safety Department said, “What the flood victims need is a safe place to sleep, food, and dishes to solve their problems, but we (the security guards) don’t have the power to help them financially,” and “We can only say ‘it’s too bad’ to the flood victims, so what good will that be to the residents who lost their homes and all their belongings?”
He added, “Our (safety) agency dispatched people to the site, saying they would take measures to deal with the flood damage, but this will only increase the inconvenience,” and “When safety officials come to the site, the affected residents will have to stand up and answer questions, and when they leave, they will have to see them off, which will create an uncomfortable situation.” Meanwhile, at a regular briefing held at the government complex in Seoul on August 2, when asked whether there had been any expression of intent from the North since the announcement of the proposal for flood relief from the North by the Secretary General of the Korean Red Cross, Deputy Spokesperson for the Ministry of Unification Kim In-are said, “We are trying to call through the inter-Korean joint liaison office contact channel, but there has been no response from the North as of now.”
***This article was translated by Google Translate and may differ from the Korean version.
