Ministry of the Interior and Safety, National Police Agency, National Fire Agency, and Korea Coast Guard to Invest 254.7 Billion KRW in 'Disaster Safety R&D' Next Year

Joint Briefing Session on Disaster Safety Research and Development Projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 29th that it will hold the "2023 On-site Response Ministries Disaster Safety Research and Development Project Joint Briefing Session" on the 30th at the S-Plex Center in Seoul, jointly with four ministries that directly respond to disasters and safety accidents on-site.

This briefing session was organized to inform industry, academia, and research institute researchers as well as the public about the 2023 disaster safety research and development project promotion strategy and research contents, and to help researchers who wish to participate in the new project call prepare in advance.

At this briefing session, the "Disaster Safety Research and Development Investment Direction," "Investment Scale by Institution," and "New Research and Development Projects" will be introduced, followed by a Q&A session on the research projects. Based on next year's government budget proposal, the disaster safety research and development budget of the four ministries totals 254.7 billion KRW, an increase of 8.7 billion KRW (3.6%) from this year's 246 billion KRW. By ministry, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has 108.9 billion KRW (5.3% increase), the National Fire Agency 26.5 billion KRW (15.1% increase), the National Police Agency 67.4 billion KRW (14% increase), and the Korea Coast Guard 51.8 billion KRW (21.7% increase).

Major new research projects starting next year and their scales include, for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety: "Development of core components and system technology for multi-frequency multi-channel ground-penetrating radar (GPR) for detecting collapse-buried victims" (1.2 billion KRW), "Development of mobile laser hull cutting equipment for rapid rescue in case of ship capsizing" (1 billion KRW), and "Development and demonstration of intelligent flood management technology through linked operation of internal drainage facilities" (800 million KRW), among 30 projects with a total investment of 19.1 billion KRW.

The National Fire Agency will invest 7.5 billion KRW in six projects including "Development of AI system technology for integrated emergency medical situation management" (3 billion KRW), "Research and development of sensors and robot technology to support fire site search and suppression activities" (1.3 billion KRW), and "Development of high-performance extinguishing agents and unmanned active suppression technology for hard-to-access special fires" (1 billion KRW). The National Police Agency will invest 5.95 billion KRW in five projects including "Development of low-power location tracking technology for personal protection devices" (2.25 billion KRW), "Development of virtual character creation and management technology to support undercover investigations against digital sex crimes" (1.8 billion KRW), and "Development of future policing challenge technologies" (1 billion KRW).

The Korea Coast Guard will invest 7.66 billion KRW in seven projects including "Development of satellite utilization technology for the Coast Guard" (2.71 billion KRW), "Development of disaster safety response education and training platform technology based on virtual convergence technology" (1.85 billion KRW), and "Development of safety certification technical standards for water leisure equipment" (1.7 billion KRW).

Ko Gwang-wan, Director of Disaster Cooperation Policy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "For research and development to be practically helpful on-site, collaboration between ministries and close communication with researchers from industry, academia, and research institutes is important," adding, "We hope for active interest and participation from researchers so that research and development can solve on-site problems and be felt by the public."