President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday expressed his deepest condolences to the South Korean government following flooding that claimed the lives of at least 39 persons.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the people of South Korea for the devastating loss of 39 lives resulting from the recent floods and landslides,” Mr. Marcos said in a tweet.
“The Filipino people are with you, offering our steadfast support during this challenging time,” he added.
The death toll from flooding after days of torrential downpours in South Korea had risen to 40 on Monday. Among those who died were a dozen people found inside a bus on a submerged underpass in Cheongju, 110km south of the capital Seoul.
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Monday to “completely overhaul” the country’s approach to extreme weather from climate change.
Rescue workers waded through thick mud as they drained a flooded underpass in central Cheongju, searching for more victims after vehicles were trapped in the tunnel by flash floods, the interior ministry said, with nine people still missing nationwide.
South Korea is at the peak of its summer monsoon season, and days of torrential rain have caused widespread flooding and landslides, with rivers bursting their banks, and reservoirs and dams overflowing. More rain is forecast in the coming days.
Minister Lee Sang-Min of the Ministry of Interior and Safety said at least 7,540 individuals were evacuated amid the bad weather.
Yoon ordered Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo to mobilize all available resources to minimize the casualties, as more heavy rain was expected on the Korean peninsula.
“This kind of extreme weather event will become commonplace — we must accept climate change is happening, and deal with it,” the South Korean President said during an emergency response meeting Monday.
The idea that extreme weather linked to climate change “is an anomaly and can’t be helped needs to be completely overhauled”, he said, calling for “extraordinary determination” to improve the country’s preparedness and response.
South Korea will “mobilize all available resources” including the military and police to help with rescue efforts, he said.
“The rainy season is not over yet, and the forecast is now that there will be torrential rain again tomorrow,” he added.
Following the meeting, Yoon, who returned from an overseas trip early Monday, traveled to Yecheon in North Gyeongsang province — one of the hardest hit villages, where more than a third of houses were damaged in landslides and two people remain missing.
Dressed in a green jacket, often donned by top officials during public emergencies, Yoon was briefed by officials as he walked past piles of fallen trees and relief workers shoveling mud.
“I’ve never seen something like this in my life, hundreds of tonnes of rocks rolling down from the mountain,” Yoon told the villagers.
“I’ll do everything I can to restore the village,” he added.
The majority of the casualties — including 19 of the dead and eight of the missing — were from North Gyeongsang province and were largely due to massive landslides in the mountainous area that engulfed houses with people inside.
On Monday, the South Korean government and police launched separate inquiries into the fatal flooding of the underpass in Cheongju, some 112 kilometers (70 miles) south of Seoul.
It flooded early Saturday when a nearby river overflowed and an embankment collapsed, leaving more than 10 vehicles, including a bus, trapped inside.
At least 13 people were killed and rescue workers have warned the toll could rise as they search the area.
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat said there had been reports of calls to police requesting an emergency evacuation order for nearby residents as well as emergency closure of the tunnel an hour before the disaster struck.
“This investigation is to find out the cause of the failure to protect the precious life of the people,” it said in a statement.
Yoon said Monday that the mismanagement of danger zones had led to the accident. Preemptive evacuations and road closures were the “basic principles of preventing the loss of lives in disaster response”, he added.
The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast more heavy rain through Wednesday and urged the public to “refrain from going outside”.
South Korea is regularly hit by flooding during the summer monsoon period, but the country is typically well-prepared and the death toll is usually relatively low.
Scientists say climate change has made weather events around the world more extreme and more frequent.
South Korea endured record-breaking rains and flooding last year, which left more than 11 people dead.
They included three people who died trapped in a Seoul basement apartment of the kind that became internationally known because of the Oscar-winning Korean film “Parasite”.
The government said at the time that the 2022 flooding was the heaviest rainfall since Seoul weather records began 115 years ago, blaming climate change for the extreme weather. With AFP
