The government will upgrade the way it conducts the Safe Korea drill to prepare for disasters. To prepare for unpredictable, large-scale complex disasters, it will assume extreme scenarios and conduct training. It will also review joint response systems between neighboring local governments by assuming disasters that occur on a wide scale.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on Apr. 7 that it will overhaul the operation and evaluation system of the "disaster response Safe Korea drill." The disaster response Safe Korea drill is a government-led exercise introduced to strengthen whole-of-government disaster response capabilities and build an advanced disaster management system. Introduced in 2005, it marks its 21st year this year.
So far, the Safe Korea drill has been credited with helping raise each agency's disaster response proficiency by establishing standardized procedures. However, as disasters grow larger and more complex, there have been pointed out limitations to responding under the existing training method.
In response, the government revamped the training method with a focus on ▲ establishing a training system that accounts for extreme situations ▲ expanding integrated, linked drills for large-scale disaster response ▲ strengthening feedback in training evaluations.
Specifically, drills will proceed on the premise of extreme situations in which normal command and control are difficult. The feedback system was strengthened so that issues identified during training lead to institutional improvements, such as updates to crisis management manuals. Major revisions were also reflected in the training evaluation indicators.
This training direction will apply starting with the first-half drills this year (May 11–22).
Kim Yong-gyun, head of the Natural Disaster Bureau at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), said, "We will work to ensure that disaster drills, crisis management manuals, and real-world response mesh organically like a single set of gears so that training results lead to tangible reductions in disaster damage."