▲ President Lee Jae Myung (L) attends a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on July 14, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

By Park Boram

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that the state's primary duty is to safeguard the safety and lives of the people, pledging that the government would do its utmost to fulfill the duty.

Lee made the remarks in a speech marking the third anniversary of the deaths of 14 people in the flooding of an underpass in the central town of Osong on July 15, 2023.

The speech was read on Lee's behalf by Jeon Seong-hwan, the presidential secretary for social cohesion, at a memorial ceremony held at the North Chungcheong provincial government office.

Seventeen vehicles, including a bus, were submerged after the underpass in Osong, about 110 kilometers south of Seoul, was abruptly flooded when a nearby river embankment collapsed amid heavy rains, killing 14 people.

"I will not forget that the state's No. 1 duty is to safeguard people's lives and safety," the president said.

"The government will make every effort to ensure that people can go about their daily lives without worry and that those who leave home in the morning return safely to their families in the evening," he added.

The president noted that heavy rains and other extreme weather events caused by the climate crisis no longer constitute exceptional disasters but have become recurring risks that require constant preparedness.

"The government will make preemptive preparations, even to the extent that they may seem excessive," the president said, extending his condolences to the bereaved families.

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