| President Yoon Suk-yeol, second from left, holds a meeting with officials at the national crisis management center at the presidential office in Seoul in the early morning of Sept. 6, to oversee the response to Typhoon Hinnamnor, in this photo provided by the presidential office. Yonhap |
President Yoon Suk-yeol held multiple meetings between Monday night and Tuesday morning to oversee the government's response to the powerful Typhoon Hinnamnor, his spokesperson said.
Yoon stayed at the presidential office overnight as the typhoon approached the Korean Peninsula and made landfall in the southeastern city of Geoje at 4:50 a.m.
During meetings at 9:30 p.m. and 11:40 p.m. Monday, Yoon monitored images of the typhoon moving toward the southern island of Jeju on closed-circuit TV and was briefed virtually by the head of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on its path and wind speed, according to presidential spokesperson Kang In-sun.
"Please share the emergency situation with local governments, firefighting authorities and other relevant agencies in real time," Yoon told KMA chief Yoo Hee-dong after being briefed that almost the entire country could come under the influence of strong winds with a radius of 420 kilometers.
The KMA chief said the critical situation was expected to last until Tuesday morning.
Yoon also instructed Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to work with local government officials to prevent damage from the typhoon.
At 5 a.m. Tuesday, Yoon returned to the national crisis management center at the presidential office to monitor the typhoon's path for 30 minutes. The typhoon was making landfall in Geoje at the time.
The KMA chief reported that Typhoon Hinnamnor has been similar in size and path to Typhoon Maemi in 2003, with an atmospheric pressure of 955 hectopascals at its center, compared with Maemi's 954 hectopascals.
Yoon again called for special attention to be paid to the safety of residents near the path of the typhoon along the south coast and urged his aides not to let their guard down until the typhoon has completely passed. (Yonhap)