The parliamentary committee on environment and labor has grilled weather agency officials on the frequent heavy rains, a potential volcanic eruption at Mount Baekdu, and inter-Korean cooperation regarding weather issues.

During the committee’s inquiry on the Korea Meteorological Administration on Thursday, main opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Mi-kyung said that the nation lacks a weather forecast system that properly reflects city properties, which undergo devastating damage from heavy rains.

Asked about the possibility of a volcanic eruption at Mount Baekdu, KMA chief Cho Seok-joon said that there are no clear signs of an eruption right now and that the government will enhance monitoring of the volcano by means of cooperation with other countries.

DP lawmaker Chung Dong-young called on Seoul to seek inter-Korean cooperation to better cope with climate change, noting that all such relations were either canceled or delayed since the launch of the Lee Myung-bak government.