South Korea floods: president calls for climate crisis action as death toll hits 40

South Korea’s president has called on his country to manage extreme weather “as the norm” following flooding that has killed at least 40 people.

The death toll includes 14 who died when floodwaters trapped them in an underpass in the city of Cheongju – casting doubt on the country’s efforts to prepare for localised and intense downpours.

Rescue workers have recovered the last body and ended search operations at the 430m (1,410-foot) tunnel in Cheongju, where 17 vehicles, including a bus, were trapped.

The Korea Meteorological Administration has forecast more heavy rain through Wednesday, and urged the public to “refrain from going outside”.

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The president, Yoon Suk Yeol, on Monday echoed a call he made last year, when flooding in August from the heaviest rain to hit Seoul in 115 years paralysed commercial areas and inundated low-lying neighbourhoods in the affluent Gangnam district.

“This type of extreme weather is going to become the norm so we need to manage it as the norm, and we totally need to get rid of the idea that we can’t do anything about unusual circumstances,” Mr Yoon told a disaster-response meeting.

Officials have promised to spend more on natural disaster prevention after the country committed about 2 trillion won (€1.4 billion) in 2022, 20 per cent more than what was spent the previous year, according to the interior ministry.

South Korea is mountainous and urban development has left many regions vulnerable to landslides, while readiness to respond to extreme weather has not been up to speed.

The past week’s victims include 27 killed or missing in mountainous North Gyeongsang province, many from landslides.

A 2020 study by the Korea Meteorological Administration found that property damage costs and casualties from extreme weather have tripled compared to the yearly average of the previous decade.

Experts say the pledge for better preparation has not been followed by setting aside the money needed, while spending remains too focused on recovery and not enough on prevention.

Jeong Chang-sam, an engineering professor at Induk University in Seoul, said prevention is crucial to minimising damage and the loss of lives, but it is often neglected because the benefits are not immediately obvious to politicians and those in government.

“People like to use expressions such as rapid response, emergency recovery ... but climate disasters are already under way,” Mr Jeong said.

“If you put money into prevention projects, you can do it at half the cost of recovery projects,” he said. – Reuters