3rd 'Ready Korea' Drill Led by Ministry of the Interior
Virtual Explosion Accident at Seosan Industrial Complex, Chungnam
35 Agencies, 75 Equipment Fully Mobilized
Strengthening Inter-Ministerial Cooperation with Ministry Control Tower
"A vehicle explosion at the factory caused a chain reaction of explosions and fires. The flames spread to nearby factories, resulting in the leakage of approximately 40 tons of hazardous chemicals, which then spread to residential areas. There was even a risk of contaminated firefighting water mixed with pollutants flowing into the sea."
This is the scenario of the hazardous chemical leakage response conducted on the 27th at the Hanwha Total BTX factory in Daesan-eup, Seosan-si, Chungnam, as part of the '2024 READY Korea Phase 1 Response Drill.' At the site, 35 organizations including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Chungnam Province, Seosan City, and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency participated in the joint drill. A total of 75 emergency response vehicles were mobilized, ranging from fire trucks, ambulances, and pump trucks to military vehicles.
At the Hanwha Total BTX Plant in Daesan-eup, Seosan-si, Chungnam, the '2024 READY Korea 1st Response Drill' was conducted on the 27th, where an accident response drill is underway. [Photo by Park Joon-yi]
At 2:30 PM that day, a loud explosion was heard as the drill began. At the factory, about ten injured employees evacuated outside amid thick smoke. The Chungnam 119 Integrated Situation Room, broadcasting via VCR footage, received the accident report and immediately disseminated the situation to related agencies such as the Seosan Fire Station, Seosan City, and the Joint Disaster Prevention Center through the situation propagation messenger.
Subsequently, equipment from each agency arrived to suppress the fire while paramedics provided emergency treatment to the injured. When the flames were not extinguished and additional explosions occurred, the on-site response commander declared 'Response Level 2' and requested activation of the Seosan Fire Station and Chungnam Emergency Rescue Control Team. Police cars, ambulances from nearby hospitals, and military transport vehicles also entered the scene to perform their respective roles. Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, Governor of Chungnam Kim Tae-heum, and Mayor of Seosan Lee Wan-seop also appeared on site one after another to take command.
Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is directing the situation at the '2024 READY Korea 1st Response Drill' held on the 27th at Hanwha Total BTX Plant in Daesan-eup, Seosan-si, Chungnam. [Photo by Ministry of the Interior and Safety]
The READY Korea drill is a nationwide response system inspection exercise introduced for the first time last year to prepare for large-scale and complex disasters caused by latent risk factors. This drill was planned to check the cooperative preparedness and response posture of related agencies in preparation for large-scale hazardous chemical leakage accidents, such as the hydrofluoric acid gas leak incident that occurred in 2012 at the Gumi Industrial Complex in Gyeongbuk. The Daesan Industrial Complex, where the drill took place, is one of the three major petrochemical complexes in Korea, densely packed with about 60 corporate factories.
In particular, cooperation among related agencies was strengthened on site. Assuming an accident had occurred, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety activated the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and, together with the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Employment and Labor, made all-out efforts to suppress the fire, rescue lives, and prevent the spread of hazardous chemicals. The Geumgang River Basin Environmental Office and the Chemical Safety Agency measured and analyzed pollution levels in the accident area and residential areas to identify the extent of damage spread and monitored residual contamination. Seosan City evacuated residents and carried out recovery operations such as pollutant containment work.
On the 27th, an accident response drill was conducted at the '2024 READY Korea 1st Response Training' held at Hanwha Total BTX Plant in Daesan-eup, Seosan-si, Chungnam. Photo by Junyi Park
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained, "In situations where disaster response is complex and difficult, risks are highly amplified, and new risks that have not been experienced before arise, the current disaster preparedness training system makes efficient response difficult. Therefore, there was a need to introduce proactive and situationally adaptive training."
At the drill site, Minister Lee said, "We were once again able to confirm that a rapid initial response after recognizing the situation and an organic cooperation system among civilian, government, and military sectors to prevent secondary damage are very important." He added, "This year, we plan to continue the READY Korea drills by identifying tasks requiring whole-government responses, such as aircraft accidents and large-scale pileups inside tunnels."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
