The National Fire Agency said on the 4th that it finalized a total of 371.3 billion won in the 2027 government budget proposal.
The detailed budget expands the introduction of advanced equipment. They include nine unmanned firefighting robots (10.8 billion won) and 40 quadruped walking robots. To respond to large wildfires, three suppression vehicles (1.1 billion won) will also be additionally introduced to local governments.
A total of 60.8 billion won was allocated for firefighting research and development (R&D). Newly reflected in the proposal are the development of integrated command and communications technologies for public safety and firefighting scenes (3 billion won) and the development of disaster safety physical artificial intelligence (AI) with participation from firefighters, police, and the Korea Coast Guard (4.5 billion won).
The National Fire Agency also included in the proposal a 5.9 billion won program to support installation of automatic diffusion fire extinguishers, which are easier and cheaper to install, focusing on factories without sprinklers. The goal is to install automatic diffusion fire extinguishers at 19,806 sites over the next five years, centered on factories more than 20 years old, small manufacturers, industrial complex clusters, and sites with repeated fires.
In addition, the proposal includes: ▲ 15.7 billion won for integrated management of firefighting helicopters, including construction of a 119 aviation maintenance facility ▲ 3.1 billion won to build a nationwide integrated control system for firefighting helicopters ▲ 2.7 billion won for the firefighting wireless communication network ▲ 1.6 billion won to expand centers that strengthen disaster scene command capabilities.
Choi Yong-cheol, commissioner of the National Fire Agency, said, "Through this budget proposal, we will bolster advanced equipment and strengthen R&D investment to further enhance response capabilities at disaster scenes."