New Korea Fire Protection Association Chairman Kim Gi-hwan took office on the 22nd and said he would develop the association beyond a fire prevention body into the control tower of national disaster prevention.
The Korea Fire Protection Association said it held the inauguration ceremony for the 19th chairman, Kim Gi-hwan, on this day. In his inaugural address, Kim presented a new management catchphrase, "people who protect the public's tomorrow," and said the association "must evolve into an institution that predicts and prevents risks, and that designs the safety of tomorrow beyond the safety of today."
Kim said, "A day without a fire, an ordinary day when families return home safely without disaster, never comes about on its own," adding, "Finding risks where they are not seen, preventing accidents, and dedicating ourselves to building a safer society is the reason for the Korea Fire Protection Association's existence and its mission."
He cited the rise in large-scale disasters due to the climate crisis and the spread of electric vehicles, energy storage systems (ESS), and data centers, as well as advances in artificial intelligence (AI), as major environmental shifts, stressing that "change is not a choice but a reality, and an opportunity for a new leap forward rather than a crisis."
Kim said he would make the Korea Fire Protection Association a ◇ association that grows together, ◎ an association that communicates together, and ▲ an association that leads the future together. He also set a goal of developing it into a world-class risk management institution and an intelligent disaster prevention body that leads future safety.
Finally, Kim emphasized that the association must set the standard for Korea's safety as the most trusted comprehensive disaster risk management institution for the public and industry, and rise as the "control tower of national disaster prevention" that sets the direction of national disaster prevention.