Chairing the 'Comprehensive Plan for National Safety System Reform' Review Meeting
Creating Flood Risk Area Maps... Sending Emergency Texts During Floods
Lee Sang-min "Prepare to Prevent Additional Damage in Flood-Affected Areas"
The government will produce an 'urban flood map' for more than 1,600 flood risk areas nationwide by the end of the year. This measure aims to prevent disasters like last year's Osong Gungpyeong 2 Underground Road incident. In particular, when flooding occurs, emergency disaster messages will be automatically sent, and roads at risk of damage will be notified through navigation systems. Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min stated, "Innovating a safety system that protects the lives and property of the people requires continuous and comprehensive efforts from both the government and local governments."
On the morning of the 21st, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held the 20th progress review meeting for the 'Climate Crisis Disaster Response Innovation Plan and National Safety System Reform Comprehensive Measures' at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Minister Lee. In this meeting, experts from related ministries including the Ministry of Science and ICT, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Environment, and Korea Forest Service shared the achievements of the first half of the year and discussed action plans for the second half.
Minister Lee evaluated the results of the review meetings so far, saying, "Meaningful policy improvements have been made, such as mandating local government heads to manage safety at festivals without organizers, introducing a system to detect repeated 112 emergency calls, and implementing crowd management support systems." He added, "To prepare for heavy rain, we revised regulations with related ministries such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to immediately control underground roads when flooding exceeds 15 cm or river overflow is anticipated," and "The number of underground road entry-blocking facilities has been expanded from 16 to 431 locations and is being installed promptly." He also introduced measures such as designating four-person teams for each flood-risk underground road, automatically sending emergency disaster messages during flooding situations, and providing navigation alerts for roads at risk of flooding.
Regarding the direction for the second half of the year, he previewed, "We will review the appropriateness of selecting heatwave shelter locations, expand operational information guidance, and examine heatwave countermeasures such as emergency alerts using wearable smart devices." In fact, led by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, ministries have integrated risk slope information previously managed separately into the 'Landslide Information System' to prevent landslide damage, and completed safety inspections for about 74,000 sites in preparation for rockfalls and collapses.
To prevent river disasters and urban flood damage, the digital twin 'Urban Flood Smart Response System' has been advanced, flood warning points expanded, and AI-based flood forecasting introduced and operated. Additionally, about 4,500 vulnerable groups to flooding, such as elderly living alone and disabled persons, will be identified and provided with focused protection through one-on-one matching with evacuation helpers and linkage to the 119 Safety Call service.
Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is speaking at the 20th progress review meeting on the comprehensive plan for the national safety system reform and the innovative response plan for climate crisis disasters held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 21st. [Photo by Ministry of the Interior and Safety]
Experts attending the meeting suggested setting deadlines to raise disaster prevention performance targets for each local government and reviewing the design standards for erosion control facilities in landslide-prone areas. In line with this, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to hold review meetings with related ministries, local governments, and experts to check the progress of key tasks. Minister Lee urged, "Please take thorough measures to clearly assign duties in advance, such as providing deputy heads with key points to check and confirm so that the disaster response system can operate well on the ground, and ensure that field personnel fully understand the policy content."
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