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President Moon presides over a meeting of senior aides at the Blue House on Nov. 20. (Yonhap News)
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The 5.4 magnitude earthquake injured 80 and left around 1,300 people homeless
President Moon Jae-in announced his approval of Pohang’s declaration as a special disaster area on the morning of Nov. 20. “The government will commit its fullest administrative powers to making the best efforts for a swift recovery from damage and allowing the college entrance examination schedule to proceed unhindered,” he said. Moon made the announcement while presiding over a meeting of secretaries and aides at the Blue House that afternoon. “For right now, the top priorities are disaster recovery and the unhindered administration of the CSAT,” Moon said, referring to the College Scholastic Ability Test (also known as the “suneung”). “Once the most urgent issues have passed, we will have a full-scale review of safety and disaster preparations,” he pledged. A magnitude 5.4 earthquake on Nov. 15 has resulted in 80 injuries and around 1,300 people left homeless in Pohang. Damages have been estimated at over 61 billion won (US$55.6 million). In a Facebook message posted after a second meeting of related ministers that day, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon wrote that the “Central Safety Management Committee sent a motion to President Moon for his approval to declare Pohang a special disaster area.” Minister of the Interior and Safety Kim Boo-kyum, who heads the Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained, “As preliminary surveys indicate the scale of earthquake damage will far exceed the 9 billion won (US$8.2 million) standard for declaring a special disaster area, we are declaring a special disaster area ahead of the damage survey’s completion to allow the receipt of additional support.” Once a special disaster area has been declared, the region receives additional state support to cover 64.5% of the local government’s share in recovery costs. Affected residents are also entitled to six forms of benefits, including reduced health insurance premiums; reduced communications, city gas, and local heating charges; deferment of mandatory military service for males; and exemptions on reserves training. “There may be aftershocks on the deferred CSAT date of Nov. 23. The government will establish guidelines in advance for all eventualities,” Moon continued.
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Earthquake victims rest at an emergency shelter at the Hunghae Indoor Gymnasium in the Buk District of Pohang on Nov. 20. (by Lim Jae-woo, staff photographer)
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