President Yoon Suk Yeol and People Power Party(PPP) chairman Han Dong-hoon met at the site of the Seocheon fire amid reports of a rift between the two sides.

Yoon and Han together inspected the area of the fire on Tuesday that claimed 227 shops after breaking out at a large marine products market in the central county of Seocheon.

President Yoon did not have an official schedule for the day, but decided to tour the site after receiving reports of the damage, while Han made adjustments to his schedule and arrived at the scene around the same time.

Officials say a temporary marketplace will be established to mitigate inconveniences on the vendors and customers, while pushing for a quick recovery of the market.

The meeting comes just two days after reports that the top office had ordered the PPP chief to step down from his post only to be rebuffed.