On the 20th, the day before the Lunar New Year holiday, the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties visited Guryong Village, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, which was damaged by a fire, to comfort victims and encourage firefighters.
People’s strength leadership, such as Jin-seok Jeong, chairman of the Emergency Response Committee, and Il-jong Seong, chairman of the Policy Committee, canceled the planned return to Seoul Station that day and visited the fire site in Guryong Village. After President Yoon Seok-yeol issued an urgent order in Switzerland to “do everything possible to suppress the fire,” the ruling party responded to the fire in Kowloon Village in an orderly fashion.
Chairman Chung said in Guryong Village, “A place where the power of the people served briquettes at the end of last year,” and “I asked for a warm winter night and parted ways, but I heard the news that there was a fire and ran.” After touring the scene of the fire, he said, “It is a situation where there is nothing to save because it has been burned down.” After asking Cho Seong-myeong, head of Gangnam-gu, about the preparation of temporary accommodations for the victims, such as nearby hotels, he asked, “Please take measures so that (disaster victims) can spend the Lunar New Year warmly.”
Chairman Chung also encouraged the firefighters, saying, “It is very fortunate that the fire authorities and the volunteer fire brigade promptly woke the residents and there were no casualties.”
Representative Lee Jae-myung and the Democratic Party leadership also visited Guryong Village that day and toured the firefighting scene. Upon receiving a report from the fire department that ‘the building was made of Styrofoam, it was difficult to extinguish the fire’, CEO Lee said, “It’s really fortunate that there were no casualties.” “Residents and firefighters suffered in a very difficult environment,” he said.
Representative Lee said on social network service (SNS) shortly after the news of the fire was reported that day, “There is no overreaction to protect the lives of the people.” do it,” he asked.
The Justice Party requested the government to come up with fundamental measures to prevent recurrence, saying, “Today’s fire shows that even disasters only affect the poor more significantly.” Spokesman Lee Jae-rang said in a briefing at the National Assembly that day, “Guryong Village in Gaepo-dong, across from Tower Palace, is the dark side of the splendid city of Seoul, with shanty towns and side rooms. It is a place where frequent and already large fires have occurred several times,” he pointed out.
According to the fire department, at around 6:27 a.m. on the same day, the fire in District 4 of Guryong Village quickly spread to the surroundings, destroying about 60 houses, a total of 2,700 square meters, and causing 62 victims in 44 households. Guryong Village was formed in the late 1980s when evicted residents who lost their livelihoods in the city gathered at the foot of Guryong Mountain and Daemo Mountain. The fire authorities believe that the fire spread quickly due to the concentration of shacks built with flammable materials such as vinyl, plywood, and ‘tteok cotton’.
