(Unofficial translation)

The damage caused by the typhoon is serious. There have been many casualties and a considerable number of people displaced. I’d like to extend my deepest condolences and sympathy to the deceased and their relatives as well as the families of those still missing.

The Government, together with local governments, is taking all the steps necessary for swift recovery and relief. It will provide sufficient administrative power for emergency repairs on both public and private facilities. It will also do everything it can to provide emergency aid to those driven from their homes by the typhoon. 

In particular, the Government will promptly designate the affected areas as special disaster zones in order to facilitate government support as quickly as possible. I hope the public will also empathize with the suffering of those residents in the typhoon-afflicted areas and give them comfort and strength.

What stood out most about the damage caused by this autumn typhoon was that the collapse of concrete retaining walls and landslides in the wake of torrential downpours led to a great loss of life. Climate change is projected to increase the number of typhoons in the fall, and the frequency and severity of heavy rainfalls are predicted to grow increasingly higher. 

I urge the Government to work with local governments to carry out sweeping inspections of the areas and facilities vulnerable to torrential rains and, at the same time, come up with effective measures to reinforce safety management across all fronts.

The Government is exerting its utmost efforts to prevent the spread of African swine fever. The hardships of those working in the field are indeed enormous. I extend encouragement and gratitude to the epidemic control officials and relevant civil servants for their hard work day and night.

My appreciation and sympathy also go to the livestock farmers who are enduring pain while actively cooperating with the Government’s epidemic control measures, including culls and restrictions on transport. 

The top priority is to stop it from spreading into other areas, especially into the southern region. To this end, the Government is implementing unprecedentedly bold measures by preemptively purchasing all disease-free pigs and stockpiling pork, going beyond the preventive culling of all pigs being raised in such areas as Ganghwa, Gimpo, Paju and Yeoncheon where outbreaks have been reported. 

In addition, following consultations with the United Nations Command and notification procedures to the North, we are spraying swine fever disinfectants from military helicopters over the entire area bordering North Korea, including the Demilitarized Zone and other parts north of the Civilian Control Line. 

We also need mid- to long-term measures. In order to minimize the damage to pig farms, I urge you to pay meticulous attention to ensure that the compensation and the funds aimed at stabilizing the livelihood of pig farmers are disbursed in a smooth manner.

I also urge you to further accelerate the efforts to advance the system of animal husbandry, including through smart livestock farms, in which it is relatively easy to control diseases. Infectious livestock diseases are not just a problem for farmers. They affect the national economy overall, including decreases in exports for relevant industries such as livestock processing as well as contractions in consumption and tourism. 

My Administration has minimized the damage caused by the previous annual infestations of bird flu and foot-and-mouth disease with a swift response and preemptive disinfections that have blocked them in the early stages. It is necessary to take this occasion as an opportunity to drastically strengthen the national response system for infectious livestock diseases. I hope the Government will examine various measures to pursue as national tasks, including establishing an institute to comprehensively conduct research on viruses associated with infectious livestock diseases, vaccine development and epidemiological investigations.

I listened solemnly to the various opinions that people expressed recently. It’s natural to see divergent opinions over political issues. I don’t consider that to be a schism in public opinion. Expressing personal political views is an act of direct democracy that complements representative democracy at times when it’s not seen as fully reflecting the will of the people. From that perspective, I still see it as having a positive side. In that sense, I express my gratitude to the people who have personally voiced opinions by spending their precious time and incurring expenses. 

Nonetheless, it would never be desirable for differences in political opinions to move beyond active discussions and spiral deep into an unyielding confrontation that buries all politics. Now that many people have expressed their opinions and the entire populace has had time to listen closely, I hope that we can pool wisdom so that issues can be resolved according to proper procedures. 

I also ask politicians to simultaneously look after mounting state affairs and the livelihood of ordinary people in general. A public consensus taking shape among the varying opinions is that prosecutorial reforms are no less urgent and pressing than guaranteeing a politically neutral prosecution. The Government and the National Assembly should both listen to the consensus. I call on the Assembly to process the legislative bills related to reforming the prosecution as soon as possible, including one act to establish an investigative agency to probe corruption among high-ranking public servants and another act to adjust the investigative authority between the prosecution and the police. 

I ask the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutors’ Office to guarantee impartial investigations while speeding up the reforms that are possible without revising laws. I also ask them in particular to keep in mind that in terms of prosecution reform, the Ministry and Prosecutors’ Office may have different roles, but they are in this together in a larger sense.