Gov’t holds disaster safety policy session for diplomatic missions to Korea

Disasters are something we must always be prepared for, as safety matters to all.

And with a growing number of foreign people in Korea, the authorities turn their eyes to ensuring them better access to information in times of emergency who may struggle due to language barrier.

Shin Ha-young tells us more.

South Korea is no exception to the growing disaster risks caused by various factors such as climate change and urbanization.

Already this year, the country experienced one of the worst wildfires in its history in the southeastern region, and an earthquake struck the central city of Chungju.

But not everyone can equally respond to disasters.

According to the Justice Ministry, the number of foreigners living in South Korea has been growing annually, with over 2-point-6 million living in Korea as of last year.

However, they are especially vulnerable to disaster-related risks due to language barriers and cultural differences.

To address this issue, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held on Tuesday the 8th Annual Policy Session on Disaster and Safety Management for Diplomatic Missions to Korea, bringing around 100 participants from 63 embassies.

"Apart from disaster management for the Korean people, you're also thinking about foreigners living in Korea. That's a very good gesture from the Korean government. And we have had a lot of cooperation between the Korean government and Laos, including with ASEAN member states."

The session addressed a range of topics, including Korea's comprehensive disaster and safety management system and the effectiveness of disaster alerts and emergency text messaging.

One way for foreigners to receive emergency alerts is through the Emergency Ready App, operated by the ministry.

"Foreign residents can't receive the emergency messages in their native languages because of the technical limitation of cell phone technology. So we developed an app which is called Emergency Ready App."

The app offers a multitude of emergency services, including alerts, safety guides, and information on the locations of civil defense shelters, in five languages.

The ministry plans to expand the service to 19 languages by August.

During the session, improvements in the country's disaster management were also discussed.

"As I said in Belgium, we don't have anything like this, so this is already much appreciated. But of course, there's always room for improvement. First of all is to limit the emergency alerts. It's repeated a lot of times every day."

Regarding such an issue, the ministry said it is testing a system to cut down on repetitive or similar emergency alerts, aiming to implement it as early as the second half of this year.

Shin Ha-young, Arirang News.