President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed relevant authorities Sunday to make all-out efforts to put out and prevent spring wildfires, his office said.
Yoon issued the message following reports of wildfires on Mount Inwang, near the previous location of South Korea’s presidential office, and a mountain in Hongseong, 114 kilometers south of Seoul.
As of 5:08 p.m., 2,458 officials and 15 helicopters had been mobilized to mostly contain the blaze on Mount Inwang that broke out shortly before noon.
There have been no reports of deaths or injuries caused by the fire so far, authorities said.
Authorities have banned entry to the mountain, with residents in nearby areas being evacuated. Some 120 households already have been evacuated.
Some 14 hectares of woodland have been destroyed by the wildfire.
Yoon ordered the National Fire Agency and the National Forest Service to use all possible resources to extinguish the fires, and called on the interior and defense ministries to support the efforts, presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said in a written briefing.
Source: Yonhap News Agency