National Life Safety Committee Under Presidential Office Launched... Public Safety and Life Rights Institutionalized

Vice Chairs Yun Hojung and Paek Jongwoo Lead

Comprehensive Review through Four Subcommittees

Identifying Safety Blind Spots and Integrating Dispersed Policies

Appointed Members Provide External Perspective to Supplement Ministerial Measures

The National Life Safety Committee has been launched to enhance the public's right to safety and to comprehensively review and coordinate policies related to the respect for life.

Yoon Hojung, Minister of the Interior and Safety, is delivering remarks at the inauguration ceremony and the 1st meeting of the National Life Safety Committee held on the 28th at the International Conference Hall of the Government Seoul Office Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety

The National Life Safety Committee, which is under the President, held its inauguration ceremony and the first meeting on the 28th at the Seoul Government Complex. The committee was established in accordance with the regulations on the establishment and operation of the National Life Safety Committee, which were announced in May. As the highest-level body reviewing major national policies, it aims to raise the public's right to safety and advance a society that values life.

The first meeting was co-chaired on behalf of the President by Yun Hojung, Minister of the Interior and Safety, and Paek Jongwoo, a professor at Kyung Hee University and President of the Korea Suicide Prevention Association.

This launch signifies that the national implementation system for translating the right to safety, as defined in the Life Safety Basic Act, into actual policy is now in full operation. The institutionalization of the right to safety has been a longstanding demand by the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster and civil society. The enactment of the Life Safety Basic Act on June 2 provided the legal basis for this.

The committee will comprehensively review and coordinate life safety policies that had previously been dispersed among ministries—for example, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is responsible for suicide prevention, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor handles industrial accidents. In particular, it will identify blind spots in safety and supplement ministerial measures with the participation of appointed committee members who provide an external perspective.

The committee plans to deliberate on issues in each field through four subcommittees: life safety, disaster safety, daily life safety, and victim support.

Minister Yun Hojung stated, "With the enactment of the Life Safety Basic Act, the 'life and safety' of the people has become not just a value, but a rightful entitlement that the state must take responsibility for and protect." He continued, "The committee will play a role in ensuring that this right is actually realized and functions in the field through regular review and adjustment."

He added, "We will integrate previously fragmented safety policies into a single standard of protecting the lives of our people, and shift from a post-incident response to a prevention-centered approach. In this way, we will fulfill the state’s fundamental duty to safeguard the lives and safety of the public."

Vice Chair Paek Jongwoo commented, "The beginning of the Life Safety Basic Act was born out of the desire of disaster victims and their families to build a society where no one will ever again suffer from repeated disasters." He added, "The government and the private sector will communicate and cooperate to bring about change that will minimize preventable deaths and damage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.