Gov't mobilizes water trucks, pumps in all-out response to southern drought

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Friday it will mount a pan-government response to worsening drought conditions concentrated in southern regions, including South Jeolla Province, Gwangju and South Gyeongsang Province, following a prolonged shortage of rainfall.

Water shortages have grown severe — the reservoir level in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, has dropped to 25.2 percent, just 33.9 percent of the normal level of 74.3 percent — prompting the government to strengthen the existing interministerial drought task force and establish a new Southern Region Drought Response Unit beneath it.

As concerns mount over a prolonged drought, the ministry elevated the task force's leadership from the disaster management policy bureau chief to the head of the disaster and safety management headquarters. The newly created response unit will be led by the ministry's natural disaster division chief and will provide rapid on-site support as needed.

The unit will use the Korea Resource Management System to assess the availability of water trucks, pumps and other equipment stockpiled by various agencies, and plans to work with national disaster logistics companies — including CJ Logistics, Hanjin, BGF Logistics and Lotte Global Logistics — to swiftly transport and deploy the equipment to affected areas in the south.

Local governments nationwide have been asked to redirect drought-response resources to the southern regions. Agencies requiring additional resources are being urged to use the mutual-aid function within the system to secure and deploy supplies in a timely manner.

Alongside this, the response unit will encourage local governments to strengthen their own response capabilities.

To minimize inconvenience for residents and crop damage in drought-affected areas, the government plans to rapidly deploy available funds — including special disaster safety grants — to implement water supply measures, and will run public awareness campaigns to encourage voluntary water conservation among residents.

"The longer the drought lasts, the more critical it becomes to deliver the resources needed on the ground at the right time," Interior and Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung said. "We will mobilize every available resource across all relevant agencies through the newly established response unit to swiftly resolve difficulties in the field and ensure that residents receive tangible, meaningful support."