Number of Characters in Disaster Text Alerts to Increase from "90" to "157"
TV Caption-Based Disaster Broadcasts to Be Simplified to Focus on Key Points
From now on, when an emergency situation requires residents to evacuate, an "Extreme Emergency Alert" or "Emergency Alert" will be sent, and the alert sound on mobile phones that signals danger with a "Beep!" will be delivered at the maximum volume of at least 40 dB. This is to ensure that people can immediately recognize the level of danger when a disaster occurs.
On the 26th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it will improve "disaster text alerts" and "disaster broadcasting" so that the public can respond quickly in disaster situations that require evacuation.
Accordingly, the "Extreme Emergency Alert," which had previously been used only in a limited way for earthquakes and nuclear warnings, can now also be used, at the discretion of local governments, in large-scale disasters or situations where there are concerns about loss of life.
In addition, flood information at the "serious" level, where the risk to human life is high, and landslide forecasts at the "warning" level must be sent as "Emergency Alerts."
The character limit for disaster text alerts will be increased from the current 90 characters to 157 characters. The current pilot operation, which has been implemented in 4 cities, counties, and districts, will be expanded to 3 metropolitan cities and provinces, and based on its performance, the system will be fully rolled out nationwide in October this year.
TV caption-based disaster broadcasts, whose disaster information has been long and complex and therefore difficult to read, will also be improved to be more viewer-centered.
The content of TV caption-based disaster broadcasts will be guided to within 250 characters in a concise and easy-to-understand manner, so that the public can quickly and accurately grasp the key points of disaster information. Last year, the average length of disaster broadcasts (TV captions) was 318 characters.
Hwang Beomsoon, Director General of the Disaster and Safety Information and Communications Bureau, said, "The purpose of this improvement of disaster text alerts and disaster broadcasting is to further enhance the communicative power of disaster information and raise public awareness in order to protect the lives and safety of the people," adding, "We will continue our efforts to ensure that disaster information directly related to safety in disaster situations can be delivered to the public more easily and quickly."
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