"National Heritage Disaster Response Drill" Held at Hwaeomsa Temple in Jirisan

Practical Joint Drill Simulating a Wildfire Emergency
Reviewing Public-Private Collaboration Systems

Overview of Hwaeomsa Temple in Gurye, a National Heritage Site and subject to the Safe Korea Disaster Response Drill

The National Heritage Administration will conduct a wildfire response drill at Hwaeomsa Temple in Gurye, South Jeolla Province, on October 28. The exercise will be a practical joint drill simulating a scenario in which a wildfire in the Jirisan area threatens Hwaeomsa Temple.

This is part of the "Safe Korea Disaster Response Drill" organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The National Heritage Administration will operate the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and the Disaster and Safety Situation Room in accordance with its crisis management manual. The agency will collaborate with related organizations such as the Gurye Fire Station, Gurye Police Station, and the Jirisan National Park Office. Civil organizations, including the Cultural Heritage Care Center and Hwaeomsa Temple’s volunteer fire brigade, will also participate to inspect the on-site response system.

The drill will be conducted in an integrated manner, connecting the disaster site, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, and the local response headquarters in real time. Discussion and on-site response will take place simultaneously. The Public Safety LTE (PS-LTE) network will be used to integrate communications between agencies, and a pre-recruited citizen experience group will participate directly in the process, providing evaluations and feedback.

The National Heritage Administration selected Hwaeomsa Temple as the training site to strengthen the response capabilities of heritage sites located in mountainous areas, drawing lessons from wildfire damage in Ulsan, North Gyeongsang, and South Gyeongsang provinces in March. The drill will follow procedures similar to an actual emergency, including initial firefighting response, evacuation of cultural assets, and installation of fire-resistant covers for immovable heritage items.

Commissioner Heo Min stated, "As cases of wildfires threatening cultural heritage have continued to occur recently, we will use this drill to review and improve our on-site response and collaboration systems," adding, "We will establish a safety management system that enables swift and systematic responses in real situations."