Standardizing Alert Issuance Criteria Nationwide and Intensive Management of 23 Key Sites
Expert: "High Potential for Nationwide Adoption"
Uiseong County in Gyeongbuk has finalized its "2025 Comprehensive Landslide Response Plan," significantly strengthening its disaster response system in light of the recent surge in landslide damage nationwide.
This plan aims to achieve "zero casualties" by standardizing the timing of landslide alerts across the country and detailing step-by-step response scenarios.
The county has clarified the alert issuance criteria by linking the Korea Meteorological Administration's weather advisories with the Korea Forest Service's "Landslide Prediction Information System." When both a heavy rain advisory and a landslide advisory (real-time) are issued simultaneously, a "landslide advisory" will be declared. When both a heavy rain warning and a landslide warning (real-time) are issued at the same time, a "landslide warning" will be declared. These measures are intended to reduce confusion over alert timing and enhance response capabilities within the critical window.
Additionally, the county will focus inspections on 23 disaster-prone areas, including those near residential neighborhoods and sites damaged by large-scale wildfires, prioritizing proactive evacuation of residents in emergencies. In areas severely affected by wildfires, erosion control projects will be expanded to fundamentally block landslide risks.
Currently, emergency erosion control projects such as slope and drainage maintenance have been completed at 61 sites, reinforcement of unstable slopes after logging has been finished at 18 sites, and 95 projects involving retaining walls, check dams, and stream conservation are being carried out in cooperation with Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.
A disaster management expert commented, "Uiseong County's measures are a model case of a local government clarifying alert issuance criteria," adding, "The prediction and response system linked to weather advisories is highly likely to be adopted by local governments nationwide."
An official from the Korea Meteorological Administration's Disaster Prevention Division also stated, "When local governments standardize alert issuance criteria, the speed of resident education and evacuation order issuance improves," and emphasized, "It is desirable for other regions to establish similar response manuals in the future."
Kim Jusu, the county governor, stressed, "Protecting the lives of our residents is the starting point of all disaster response," and added, "Through constant inspections and proactive measures, we will make Uiseong a safe place not only from landslides but from all disasters."
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