Minister speaks at National Assembly national audit

'Zero crowd-crush accidents this year'; social disaster law in the works

Pledges to open path to balanced regional growth

Minister of Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung delivers a work report at the National Assembly's administrative affairs committee national audit on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
Minister of Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung delivers a work report at the National Assembly's administrative affairs committee national audit on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Minister of Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung said Tuesday that his ministry would "respond firmly to serious crimes that threaten democracy and a fair free-market order, while faithfully carrying out the mission of protecting the human rights of society's most vulnerable."

Speaking at the opening of the National Assembly's administrative affairs committee national audit, Yun addressed the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency, which launched Friday, saying he would ensure it "takes root as an investigative body trusted by the public — one that handles the crimes of the most powerful in our society while at the same time protecting the rights of the most powerless." He added that the ministry would "resolve historical grievances in a forward-looking manner and offer a responsible apology for state violence."

Yun said the ministry had achieved "zero crowd-crush accidents at festivals, events and other mass-gathering scenes this year," and pledged to push for the enactment of a social disaster preparedness law to enable systematic readiness against social disasters that threaten people's daily lives.

He said the ministry would also build a science-based disaster safety management system that uses AI and data to predict disasters with precision and respond to them preemptively.

Yun said the ministry would apply a regional preference index — one that accounts for disparities between regions — broadly across policy to provide stronger and bolder support for areas outside Greater Seoul. He also said local tax reforms would convert a portion of existing tax revenue into a local residential welfare tax to support the expansion of public housing supply by local governments.


thlee@heraldcorp.com