President Lee Jae-myung said on the 5th, the second day of his term, "I hope that there will never be situations where people lose their lives or face collective disasters due to the indifference and negligence of the state or public officials."
On this day at 2 p.m., President Lee held a safety and security inspection meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office, stating, "I organized this meeting to ensure that no damage occurs during this rainy season."
This meeting was convened because President Lee judged that countermeasures for the rainy season were urgent. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Emergency Management Agency, the Ministry of National Defense, as well as local leaders like mayors and district heads, who joined via video conference.
President Lee emphasized, "I urgently asked for this meeting. One of the main reasons for the existence of the state is to protect the lives and safety of the people," and added, "In all the national policies and local administrations we implement, the foremost priority should be the safety of the people."
President Lee noted, "While there are unavoidable situations (like disasters or accidents), many of those could have been avoided with a bit more attention," and mentioned, "If I were to specifically point out a few, the Sewol ferry disaster, the Itaewon disaster, and the Osong underpass accident stand out. The Itaewon disaster occurred due to poor crowd control, the Osong underpass incident happened due to neglect in managing minor facilities, and the Sewol ferry disaster had several complex causes."
He then mentioned examples from his time as the mayor of Seongnam, where he worked to prevent the recurrence of accidents.
President Lee pointed out, "At that time, I wondered why the same types of accidents kept happening at the same places and, upon checking, generally found that they could be prevented with a bit more care or prior preparation."
He added, "For example, flooding occurred continuously in the same area, so I took local maps and marked 'areas affected by flooding this year, last year's affected area, and the area affected before that' with different colors using stickers. It turned out to cluster in one spot like a target point when aiming," and explained, "In other words, the same type keeps occurring in the same spot."
President Lee explained, "When analyzing these by type, the causes were generally identified as neglecting blocked sewage systems, obstructed drainage facilities by fallen leaves during the rainy season, or structural issues with wastewater management," and concluded, "If there are causes, countermeasures can be established."
In the realm of public safety, he mentioned, "There are crime-prone areas, so preventing damage should be somewhat possible."
In particular, President Lee stated that he would check the preparedness situation ahead of the rainy season. He remarked, "In cases where serious incidents occur, resulting in fatalities due to negligence or indifference, I felt that strict accountability must be enforced."
He also mentioned that 'excellent personnel' should be assigned to safety management departments. President Lee expressed, "While excellent personnel are often placed in areas like permits and approvals, there seems to be a tendency to do the opposite in departments related to the life and safety of the public," and added, "I hope efforts are made to place more capable individuals in areas concerning the lives and safety of citizens rather than those associated with vested interests."
Additionally, he noted, "The suicide rate in our country is high, and I believe there are possibilities for prevention or reduction, so I hope you will look into this as well."