Nationwide Landslide Risk 'Severe' Except Jeju Island

On the morning of the 8th, rescue teams are searching for buried victims at a house where a landslide occurred in Osan-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do. Five people were buried in three houses here due to the landslide that occurred at 8:29 PM the previous day. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service announced on the 8th that, as of 12 PM, it will issue a 'Severe' level landslide warning for 16 cities and provinces nationwide, excluding Jeju Island.

At 7 AM on the same day, the Korea Forest Service held a situation assessment meeting at the Central Forest Disaster Situation Room, chaired by the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service. Based on the landslide information system's 'Tank Model' (landslide occurrence prediction system), cumulative rainfall provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration, and ultra-short-term precipitation forecasts, the landslide warning level was raised to 'Severe.'

With the issuance of the 'Severe' landslide warning, the Korea Forest Service will take overall command of immediate disaster response for landslides. Depending on the risk situation, local governments, regional offices, and related agencies will be directed to proactively evacuate residents in areas vulnerable to landslide damage, maintaining close cooperation to respond to emergency situations.

To prevent landslide damage, the Korea Forest Service has been conducting on-site inspections using special mountain inspection teams in high-risk areas such as landslide-prone zones, solar power facilities, forest roads, and forest management sites.

Even at the 'Alert' level, various methods such as emergency disaster text messages, subtitle broadcasts, and village broadcasts have been used to prevent casualties in areas at risk of landslide damage, with local governments making efforts equivalent to the 'Severe' level.

Meanwhile, the regions where the landslide warning was upgraded from 'Alert' to 'Severe' on this day are Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon.

Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, Sejong, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam?12 regions?were already under the 'Severe' level warning, and Jeju Island is currently the only region maintaining the 'Caution' level landslide warning.

Park Jong-ho, Commissioner of the Korea Forest Service, stated, “Landslides are large-scale natural disasters that can take many lives at once. When the risk of occurrence is high, as it is now, a higher level of vigilance than ever before is necessary. Residents in vulnerable areas at risk of damage should pay close attention to emergency disaster text messages and announcements and evacuate quickly and safely in case of emergency.”