There has been another massive disaster. This time it's an earthquake. The dead and injured will number at least in the tens of thousands. The damage is concentrated in northeast Pakistan. It registered 7.6 on the Richter scale, and its low epicenter made for more damage. They say that there is insufficient personnel and equipment, making even approaching the affected area difficult.
There needs to be swift and warm assistance. Immediately after New Orleans, USA, was hit with hurricane Katrina at the end of last August, our government offered US$30 million, the fourth largest international contribution at the time. This time as well there needs to be such assistance, and on a larger scale. Private aid organizations also need to be actively involved. Pakistan is a country that has grown close with Korea, and president Pervez Musharraf visited Seoul two years ago. The number of Pakistani workers in Korea continues to rise.
You can't prevent earthquakes but you can reduce the damage depending on how well you're prepared. The tsunami that killed more than 20,000 in South Asia would have seen a lot less human damage had there been the right kind of warning system in place. The plate tectonics of the region are such that the Indian Plate that holds India and Pakistan is colliding with the Eurasian Plate to its north, causing frequent earthquakes in north Pakistan and western India. There is little in the way of warning and rescue systems and earthquake-proofing, so ever time there's an earthquake thousands to tens of thousands have to die. The international community has to help if the region is going to escape the viscous cycle.
It is a characteristic of the 21st century to have the globalization of various disasters, in step with overall progress in globalization. Whenever a disaster occurs on the planet it affects people from many countries, and they are growing in scale, to the point where a single country or even couple of countries can't adequately respond. That is why we need to thoroughly inspect our own readiness posture while actively participating in international responses to disasters and tragedies.
The Hankyoreh, 10 October 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Extending Warm Hands to Pakistan |
