1. The government of the Republic of Korea has decided to provide one million US dollars in humanitarian assistance to the Philippines, which was hit hard by Typhoon Hagupit on December 10, via an international organization. The contribution will be channeled into helping the country recover from the disaster and seek disaster risk reduction.

◦ Typhoon Hagupit claimed the lives of 27 people and left some 270,000 housing structures destroyed in the Philippines.

2. Typhoon Hagupit caused less damage than super Typhoon Haiyen that occurred in November 2013. Nonetheless, the Philippines, which suffered direct damage from the typhoons two years in a row, faces a growing need for not only emergency relief but also ways to prevent and manage disasters in the mid to long term.

3. Accordingly, the ROK government will provide temporary housing units and conduct other emergency relief operations in the Philippines. It will also help Philippine communities strengthen their response capacity to typhoons and other natural disasters. To that end, the ROK government will mainly assist their efforts for disaster risk reduction by providing training for disaster prevention leaders and experts and conducting programs on disaster preparedness and response.

4. On the heels of Typhoon Haiyen that hit the Philippines in 2013, the ROK government dispatched a Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) and offered a total of five million US dollars in humanitarian assistance. In the wake of Typhoon Hagupit this year, the ROK will actively assist the country to respond to disasters, thereby playing a role in strengthening the disaster risk reduction and disaster response capacity of the Philippines. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation