Local Civil Defense Units Reorganized by Eup, Myeon, and Dong Levels... Education Exemption Proposed During Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Revises Civil Defense System Operation Method Reflecting Social Changes

On August 24, 2016, during the 402nd Civil Defense Day, military and police conducted training to set up a wartime traffic control post at Mapo Bridge over the Han River in Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The civil defense system, operated to protect the lives and property of residents during national emergencies, will be newly reorganized to adapt to social changes.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 16th that it has selected 25 tasks across five major areas of civil defense to revitalize the stagnant civil defense operations and meet public expectations, and will proceed with system improvements.

First, considering the population decline in rural and fishing villages, the aging of local civil defense captains (who concurrently serve as tong/ri chiefs), and the lack of experience in organizational command and control, the ministry will pursue a long-term plan to reorganize local civil defense units from the tong/ri level, which has been maintained since the civil defense system was introduced in 1975, to the eup/myeon/dong level.

Additionally, to address difficulties in forming and operating 'workplace civil defense units' due to a shortage of members, related laws will be amended to allow institutions to independently decide to incorporate these units into 'local civil defense units.' Legal grounds will also be established to enable local governments to set up and operate 'support civil defense units' through ordinances.

The government will also improve the civil defense education and training operation system to strengthen the organizational capabilities of civil defense units and enhance emergency preparedness. To this end, education will be mandated by law for civil defense captains, civil defense instructors, and civil defense-related public officials.

In general civil defense member education, alongside the existing group training, a system will be introduced to partially exempt members who participate in civil defense activities (such as supporting civil defense training) from the obligation to attend group training. Furthermore, instead of the emergency assembly training that members with five or more years of service had to attend once a year, a system will be introduced in the long term where entering the notification details on the civil defense dedicated website's assembly and confirmation system will be considered as attendance.

The method of delivering civil defense education notices will be improved to an electronic notification system, and the procedure for imposing fines on absentees will be simplified. In preparation for situations where group training is difficult due to infectious disease outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic this year, legal grounds will be established to exempt civil defense education in areas affected by national disasters.

Moreover, the system will be improved to strengthen civil defense mobilization capabilities and enable rapid recovery, restoration, and resident relief in the event of a civil defense incident.

By expanding resident evacuation facilities, automatically displaying civil defense alerts through various large electronic billboards and broadcasting stations, and expanding and reorganizing civil defense facilities and equipment, emergency preparedness capabilities will be enhanced, and international cooperation in the civil defense field will also be strengthened.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young emphasized, "This civil defense system improvement focuses on reflecting social changes and strengthening capabilities," adding, "We will continue to enhance our ability to effectively prepare for national emergencies and disasters."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.