Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae Inspects Mogok-ri Landslide Site: “Residents’ Safety Is the Top Priority”

【Financial News, Hongcheon = Reporter Kim Ki-seop】 Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae visited the landslide site in Mogok-ri, Seo-myeon, to oversee residents’ safety and ensure swift restoration efforts.
According to Hongcheon County on the 4th, Governor Shin visited the landslide site in Mogok-ri that day to check on residents and assess the situation. He instructed the relevant departments to respond carefully, minimizing the anxiety and inconvenience of evacuated residents and ensuring that necessary support is provided promptly until the site is deemed safe. He then inspected the landslide area and surrounding damage, including the flow of soil and debris, damage to farmland and facilities, the possibility of further collapse, site controls, and preparations for emergency restoration.
After the site inspection, Governor Shin convened Deputy County Governor Park Hyeong-cheol and the heads of the county office’s bureaus, offices, and departments for an emergency countermeasures meeting. They discussed ways to prevent further damage, protect residents, and restore the site. The lodging arrangements of evacuated residents were a key agenda item, and officials reviewed support measures to ensure that residents could stay without inconvenience until the site was confirmed safe. They also agreed to strengthen the emergency contact system with relevant agencies in preparation for additional landslides.
The landslide occurred at around 8:04 a.m. that day when soil and debris flows spilled out in parts of Mogok-ri. Hongcheon County immediately began responding at the site with the police, firefighters, and the Seo-myeon Administrative Welfare Center. No casualties have been reported so far. Some farmland was damaged and a container was found to have been damaged by the soil and debris flows. The exact area and extent of the damage are still being investigated.
Hongcheon County has evacuated 17 nearby residents in preparation for further damage. A decision on their return will be made based on the results of the site safety assessment. At the site, two police vehicles and six officers, three fire vehicles and emergency medical personnel, and five personnel and five vehicles from the Seo-myeon Administrative Welfare Center have been deployed. Police are controlling the area around the point of occurrence.
Hongcheon County requested technical advice from the Korea Forest Disaster Safety Technology Corporation to determine the exact cause, damaged area, and restoration plan. However, immediate restoration is difficult because soil continues to flow. The county plans to begin emergency restoration as soon as the site stabilizes, while monitoring the flow of soil and the possibility of further collapse. Using previously secured temporary restoration funds, it will begin urgent measures such as removing soil and installing waterproof sheets. It will then identify the cause and extent of the damage based on the findings of a specialized agency and proceed with restoration work.
On the 5th, an emergency diagnostic team from the Korea Forest Service (KFS) will visit the site to assess its condition with experts in structures and geology and discuss restoration measures. Hongcheon County plans to monitor the site by operating its Forest Disaster Response Team in 12-hour shifts in preparation for further damage.
Hongcheon County Governor Shin Young-jae said, “I am listening directly to residents’ voices at the site and checking their lodging arrangements, site safety, and emergency restoration measures one by one.” He added, “As soon as the soil stops flowing and the site stabilizes, we will begin restoration using the secured funds and see it through until residents can return to their daily lives with peace of mind.”

[email protected] Kim Ki-seop Reporter