June 3, 2019. Excerpt from Opening Statement of the Party’s Supreme Council Meeting

 
"Ministry of Unification Should Be Fully Prepared against a Possible Outbreak of African Swine Fever"

□ Lee Hae-chan, Chairman of the DPK
 
Five days have passed since a boat crash occurred in Budapest, Hungary. I will sincerely pray for the safe return of the passengers still missing from the sunken boat. At the same time, it is also wished that the government will do its utmost efforts to rescue those missing Koreans and take follow-up measurers by mobilizing all available resources and capabilities.

The floor leaders of the ruling and two main opposition parties met yesterday to discuss normalization of the National Assembly. Unfortunately, however, we failed to put the assembly back on track due to the refusal of the Liberty Korea Party to negotiate the issue. As the main opposition party, the LKP should not become a drag on state affairs. We have to open parliamentary sessions to handle an extra budget bill and other proposals on people’s livelihoods as soon as possible.

Last Friday, it was found that an outbreak of African swine fever has been reported in Jagangdo, North Korea. The government immediately carried out quarantine measures in ten neighboring municipal and county areas adjacent to Jagangdo; none of the farming families has reported ASF-suspicious symptoms as of yesterday. The Ministry of Unification is now planning to meet North Korean representatives and discuss cooperative measures in details. The ministry needs to take this situation seriously and be fully prepared against a possible occurrence of the highly contagious hemorrhagic disease.

 “통일부, 아프리카돼지열병 사전 예방 철저히 기해야”

■ 이해찬 당대표

헝가리 유람선 침몰사고가 난 지 5 일째다. 실종자들의 생환을 간절히 기원하겠다.
정부는 모든 역량과 자원을 총동원하여 실종자 구조와 후속 조치에 최선을 다해주시기 바란다.

어제 국회정상화를 위한 3당 원내대표 협상이 있었지만 안타깝게도 자유한국당의 거부로 국회 문을 못 열었다. 제 1 야당 혼자서 무한정 국정에 발목을 잡아서는 안 될 것이다. 싸우더라도 국회를 열고 민생현안과 추경안부터 처리해야 한다.
 
지난 금요일 북한 자강도에서 아프리카돼지열병 발병이 확인되었다. 정부는 신속히 접경 10 개 시군에 긴급방역조치를 실시했고, 어제까지 모든 농가에서 의심증상이 발견되지 않았다. 통일부는 북측과 구체적인 협력 방안을 마련할 계획이다. 상황을 엄중히 인식하고 사전 예방을 철저히 기해야겠다 .

2019년 6월 4일

더불어민주당 국제국