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The forest fire in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, has continued for eight days, but the fire is still strong and it is not speeding up the extinguishing of the fire.



Reporter Hong Seung-yeon reports.



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forestry authorities put in 81 helicopters and 3,500 firefighters a day yesterday (10th) to continue the firefighting work for a week.



In particular, we put all our efforts into defending the area of ​​Sogwang-ri, where the hundreds of years-old Geumgangsong colony is located.



At one time, the flames approached 300m in front of the core colony, but they managed to overcome the crisis.



Eungbongsan, which is 999m above sea level, has a strong fire force and a wide range, so it can hardly speed up the evolution, and the evolution rate is at a standstill at 75%.



On the other hand, forest damage has increased like a snowball, approaching 20,000 ha.



The forest authorities plan to defend as much as possible so that the fire does not spread even at night, and then send in helicopters as soon as the day is bright to extinguish the fire.



[Choi Byeong-am/Director of the Korea Forest Service: I need to manage this place perfectly (Sogwang-ri), so I will mobilize all resources (I will increase the evolution rate) after completing the work tonight until tonight.]



About 140 victims who were evacuated to the gym were all nearby. We went to the hotel and the town hall.



I will stay here until temporary housing is available.



The government plans to provide free temporary housing to victims of Uljin, Samcheok, and Donghae, Gangneung, declared special disaster areas, and reduce health insurance premiums, as well as various utility bills such as telecommunication and electricity bills.



National pension payments are also deferred for up to one year.



Meanwhile, the forest authorities plan to verify the address information of the owner of the vehicle suspected of the true story of the Uljin forest fire and request a formal investigation.