City holds disaster safety committee meeting Thursday morning to review situation and discuss next steps

Busan pledges close coordination with agencies to support post-accident response

Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo chairs a disaster safety committee meeting at City Hall on Thursday morning in response to the tugboat capsizing. [Provided by Busan City]
Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo chairs a disaster safety committee meeting at City Hall on Thursday morning in response to the tugboat capsizing. [Provided by Busan City]

Busan City held a disaster safety committee meeting Thursday morning at City Hall, chaired by Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, in response to a tugboat capsizing. The meeting focused on a comprehensive review of casualties and damage, rapid mobilization of all available personnel and equipment for rescue operations, and measures to support the families of missing crew members.

The city has established a disaster safety committee together with Dong-gu to coordinate the accident response. Nam-gu and Haeundae-gu, located near the accident site, have set up integrated field support centers and are devoting full resources to on-site assistance.

To support victims and their families, the city has formed dedicated one-on-one family liaison teams staffed by senior city officials, who are providing detailed updates on rescue progress, response measures and available support services. The city also plans to offer tailored psychological counseling and a mental health relief program through its disaster psychological recovery support service.

In addition, the city will activate its "Busan Disaster Response Interpretation Corps," drawing on the city's foreign resident disaster safety network. Emergency interpretation services and other multilateral relief measures will be provided for foreign victims to help them recover and return to daily life as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Mayor Jeon visited the Busan Maritime Police Station at around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday to receive a briefing on the response to the capsizing, which occurred about five nautical miles southeast of Oryukdo. He called on officials to work closely with district offices, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and other relevant agencies under the direction of on-site commanders to do their utmost in searching for and rescuing the missing, and ordered that full support be provided to the bereaved families of crew members killed and to the families of those still missing.

"Maintain a strong cooperative framework among the government, Busan City, district offices, the Korea Coast Guard and all relevant agencies, and mobilize the city's full administrative capacity to ensure the accident response and search for the missing are handled without any gaps," Jeon said. "In particular, make sure preparations for the disaster victim support center — which will provide one-stop, thorough assistance to the families of disaster victims — leave nothing to chance."


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