Tongyeong City Designated Entirely as Special Disaster Zone: "A Major Turning Point for Returning to Daily Life"

Reducing Local Government’s Fiscal Burden

Tax Benefits and Fee Reductions Provided for Affected Residents

The entire area of Tongyeong City, Gyeongnam Province, which suffered massive flood damage due to record-breaking torrential rains, has been declared a special disaster zone by the government. With the scope of support expanded from only certain towns and neighborhoods to the city as a whole—surpassing the limitations of the initial designation—Tongyeong City’s finances, which were strained by the need for large-scale recovery funds, are expected to be relieved.

Fishermen are collecting dead mullets caused by high water temperatures at a caged fish farm for mullets off the coast of Sanyang-eup, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam. Photo by Yonhap News.

Tongyeong City expressed its welcome on the 4th, stating that the government had reviewed both on-site damage investigations and the urgency of recovery before designating the entire city as an additional special disaster zone. Previously, the government had designated only Sanyang-eup and Bongpyeong-dong within Tongyeong, as well as the entire neighboring Geoje City, as special disaster zones in response to the heavy rains that occurred during the Liberation Day holiday. However, as the flood damage was widespread throughout the city and not limited to specific areas, the city of Tongyeong consistently petitioned the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to include the entire municipality in the declared zone.

With this declaration, Tongyeong City will be significantly relieved of the financial burden required for emergency restoration of public facilities and for pursuing permanent disaster prevention projects. When designated as a special disaster zone, a significant portion (up to 80%) of the recovery costs that would be shouldered by the local government is converted to national funding, greatly easing the fiscal burden. Disaster relief funds for residents are supported by the national government, and in addition to the 25 types of assistance provided to general disaster zones—such as deferred payments of national and local taxes—13 more types of support are provided, including reductions for national health insurance premiums, electricity, telecommunications, city gas, and district heating bills.

With the city-wide designation, Tongyeong City has begun to conduct a more detailed survey of the damages and prepare specialized, sector-by-sector recovery plans encompassing infrastructure maintenance and reinforcement of vulnerable areas. The city plans to promptly restore public infrastructure such as flooded farmland, residential areas, roads, and rivers to prevent any secondary damage from occurring.

Sukkyoon Kang, Mayor of Tongyeong, stated, "This additional designation marks a critical turning point for Tongyeong residents deeply affected by the flood, as they seek to return to their daily lives as soon as possible," and emphasized, "We will concentrate all administrative resources of the city to ensure that effective recovery and compensation are swiftly implemented in coordination with government support."

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