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Governors criticized for lax responses to wildfires
A helicopter dumps water on a burning forest in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, Thursday. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Gangwon Province Governor Kim Jin-tae and North Chungcheong Province Governor Kim Young-hwan have come under growing criticism, following revelations that the former played golf and the latter attended a drinking party while their respective regions were suffering wildfires.
Governors, as top decision-makers, are supposed to supervise firefighting operations in their respective regions.
According to Gangwon officials, Kim was practicing golf at a driving range in Chuncheon for about 30 minutes from 5:30 p.m. last Friday.
This provoked criticism because Kim visited the range 30 minutes before the close of business at 6 p.m.
This occurred as firefighting authorities were stretched in attempts to contain wildfires at several places in the province at the time.
A fire broke out on a mountain in Hwacheon last Thursday and was put out on Friday morning after burning through the forested area for about 18 hours.
Another fire broke out on a mountain in Hongcheon at around 3:49 p.m. on Friday and was put out after about two hours by 117 firefighters and four helicopters.
On the same day, a factory in Wonju caught fire and quickly spread to a nearby mountain at 2:37 p.m. This fire was brought under control after one hour and 20 minutes.
A spokesman of the Gangwon Provincial Office explained that Governor Kim took an afternoon off on that day and had submitted a request for the leave in advance.
But later it was confirmed that the application was not submitted before he played golf. It was submitted only on Monday after reporters became aware of the case and the governor expected his story to be grabbed by the media.
Amid intensifying controversy, the governor made a belated public apology, Tuesday.
“I apologized for my improper behavior when the province was suffering wildfires,” Kim was quoted as saying by his spokesman.
Similarly, North Chungcheong Province Governor Kim has been embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that he had attended social drinks on Thursday night before a mountain fire that broke out at 1 p.m. on the same day in Jecheon had yet to be brought under control.
A wildfire, which broke out on a mountain in Jecheon in North Chungcheong Province, sends up a thick cloud of smoke into the sky, Thursday. Yonhap
The fire was put out at 9:30 a.m. the following day after burning through approximately 21 hectares.
Kim invited more criticism as he maintains the position that he did nothing wrong.
“I did not drink alcohol at that party. My face was red at the time because of sunlight, not because of alcohol,” Kim told reporters.