Asian nations seek cooperation against disasters
Korea’s Minister of Government Legislation Kim Oe-sook has called for Asian nations to overhaul legislation systems to better respond to disasters and catastrophes.
She said Asian nations need to find ways to enhance cooperation against disasters through legislation to protect the lives and human rights of the people.
Her remarks came at the fifth Asian Legislative Experts Symposium hosted by the legislation ministry at the Millennium Hilton in Seoul, Wednesday.
The symposium was designed to look into the status of legislation of Asian countries and their legislative strategies for effective responses to disasters.
“Prevention of and swift response to disasters are not just needed for facility safety, but for the protection of the lives and human rights of the people,” Kim said in her opening speech.
“Collective cooperation and international responses are essential, because we are living in an era where no country and region is free from today’s disasters, such as abnormal weather caused by climate change, earthquakes and nuclear accidents.”
She pointed to the fact that disasters are a result not only of natural processes on the Earth that are beyond the control of human beings, but also of reckless development and negligence.
In particular, she said disasters pose a threat to the lives of the people and inflict especially serious damage to vulnerable populations, such as women and children.
“In this regard, I hope this symposium serves as a venue to meet the needs of the times by comparing and analyzing laws for disasters and sharing good practices with each other,” she said.
Umar Hadi, Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea, concurred.
In his congratulatory message, Hadi said Indonesia is also working hard to find ways to protect people from disasters and accidents.
He stressed the importance of international cooperation through legislation because disasters and accidents do not care about national borders.
During the symposium, over 170 law experts from public, private, and academic sectors in 37 countries, including Indonesia, China and Thailand, looked into the current statuses of applicable laws in Asian countries.
Also, they had an in-depth discussion on how to organize laws that will especially assure building safety at times of disasters and accidents.
“They agreed the laws must be organized to respond promptly to frequent disasters and accidents,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it plans to continue to promote the symposium by broadening the theme and attracting more experts from Asian countries, so it will cover the common interests of Asian countries.