Prime Minister Chung Hong-won on Wednesday called for intensified government capabilities to deal with future disaster situations as the country launched a new safety ministry in the aftermath of the deadly ferry sinking seven months ago.

Chung made the remark in a ceremony marking the launch of the Ministry of Public Safety and Security and the Ministry of Personnel Management established to prevent a repeat of the tragic ferry accident on April 16.

Around 300 people died in the ferry Sewol that sank off the country's southwest coast en route to the southern resort island of Jeju. Poor initial rescue operations were largely blamed for the heavy death toll.

"Taking a lesson from the painful accident of the ferry Sewol, (the safety ministry) should greatly step up anti-disaster capabilities," the prime minister said. "The ministry should show a completely different image (from the previous) by doubling its capacity to control and manage disaster situations," he noted. 

The Sewol sinking exposed the level of South Korea's disaster control capacity, which is at a shameful stage compared with the country's brisk economic development, the prime ministry said, calling to muster all government efforts to beef up the country's safety management capacity. 

"(The ministry) should perfectly guarantee citizens' safety by establishing an effective integrated disaster response system at the earliest time possible," Chung also noted. 

The ferry accident called into question the effectiveness of the country's safety control system as well as the government's personnel management, with critics saying that corruptive government personnel decisions have contributed to the botched rescue operations by national rescue agencies.

Such criticism led to the launch of the personnel management ministry, which will be in charge of reforming the government's personnel affairs.

"The two ministries launched under the wing of the Prime Minister's Office represent two major pillars for the public sector reform drive," the prime minister noted. 

"The ministry should boost our civil servant society's competitiveness by increasing its professionalism and openness so it can become a trustworthy organization." (Yonhap)