Seoul Gangseo-gu Wins 'Grand Prize' for Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness Work Evaluation Two Years in a Row

Published 25 Feb.2020 08:36(KST)

Joint Counterterrorism Drill and Use of Smart Integrated Situation Room Recognized for Building Safety Infrastructure

Seoul Gangseo-gu Wins 'Grand Prize' for Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness Work Evaluation Two Years in a Row

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced that it was selected as the Grand Prize (大賞) district in the 2019 Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness Work Evaluation conducted by Seoul City.

In the evaluation conducted among Seoul's autonomous districts, Gangseo-gu achieved the remarkable feat of winning first place for two consecutive years, following its awards as Excellent District in 2016, Best District in 2017, and the highest grade Grand Prize in 2018.

Seoul City evaluates and announces the civil defense and emergency preparedness work carried out by its 25 autonomous districts over one year, based on 18 detailed indicators across 10 fields such as civil defense unit formation and management, and education and training.

The district received excellent evaluations for conducting joint training with related organizations such as military units and police stations to enhance counter-terrorism response capabilities, and for establishing a real-time message processing and reporting system using the Smart Integrated Situation Room.

Additionally, the district signed an MOU with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Seoul City, investing 20 billion KRW to build a ‘Safety Education Center,’ which is scheduled to open in the first half of 2022.

The ‘Safety Education Center,’ the first of its kind established by a basic local government nationwide, will serve as an educational facility for efficient civil defense education and safety experience for students.

It is located within Balsan Neighborhood Park in Naebalsan-dong, Gangseo-gu, and after completion, it will provide safety experience education such as earthquake simulations for youth and residents.

Also, the ‘Smart Integrated Situation Room’ is a project that established a comprehensive situation room capable of viewing real-time video information using about 1,000 CCTVs and smartphones within Gangseo-gu. It was first established nationwide by a local government in 2017.

Mayor Noh Hyun-song said, “We won the Grand Prize for two consecutive years as a result of carrying out our work without forgetting that ‘a safe environment city where life is comfortable’ is our district administration goal. We will continue to do our best to maintain a constant civil defense management system to protect the local community in case of crisis situations.”