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President Lee Jae-myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office on the 4th. / Yonhap

President Lee Jae-myung ordered on the 4th that the government "treat the current situation as a national disaster and mobilize a full-scale response," referring to the record-breaking heatwave that has continued day after day. With heat-related illness cases nearing 2,000 and deaths reaching 16, he called for thorough measures to protect vulnerable groups, ensure safety at industrial sites, and secure electricity and water supplies.

President Lee made the remarks while presiding over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office that morning, saying record-breaking heat has continued nationwide day after day.

President Lee said, "The heatwave has continued for several days now, making even daily life difficult for the public," adding, "The situation is extremely serious — nearly 2,000 people have suffered heat-related illness since May, with 16 deaths."

He added, "The bigger problem is that these extreme weather anomalies are likely to continue for a considerable time going forward," calling for efforts to fundamentally redesign the country's disaster response system to address the new normal of extreme weather.

President Lee named protecting people's lives as the top priority in responding to the heatwave, saying, "The most urgent task is protecting the public's lives," and asking officials to once again carefully review support measures for vulnerable groups such as residents of cramped rooming houses and elderly people living alone, and to thoroughly manage safety for workers at outdoor worksites and in enclosed spaces.

He also called for ensuring workers' right to stop work is upheld, saying, "We need to intensively inspect worksites to make sure workers' right to halt work functions in practice," and that efforts should also focus on expanding heat shelters and improving their utilization rates.

He also instructed officials to provide financial support to hard-hit areas and address drought and power supply issues, saying, "Along with central government financial support such as special grants for the hardest-hit areas, we need to move quickly on emergency water supply measures for drought-affected farms," and that potential electricity supply issues from surging cooling demand should be proactively reviewed.

Regarding the outcomes of his recent trip to the U.S. and South America, President Lee said it further solidified the foundation for Korea to become a leading power in cutting-edge industries and elevated the country's standing as a globally responsible power.

He added, "Please take swift and thorough follow-up measures so that this trip becomes another building block for a better future for Korea and leads to tangible improvements in people's lives."

                                                                                                        Park Young-hoon