[Asia Exclusive] Next Month, Korea Meteorological Administration's 'Daejeon Era' Begins... "Strengthening Severe Weather Response in the Capital Area"

Half of Policy Departments Move to Daejeon... National Meteorological Center to be Established in 2026
Strengthening Metropolitan Area Response and Enhancing Forecaster Capabilities through Education
KMA Commissioner Park Gwang-seok: "Social Consensus on Climate Crisis and Carbon Neutrality is Important"

Asia Exclusive_ Park Kwang-seok, Director of the Korea Meteorological Administration. / Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Interview = Lee Kyung-ho, Head of Social Department at Asia Economy, Organized by Han Jin-joo, Reporter] The annual precipitation in Geoje City, Gyeongnam Province, was 2228 mm as of last year. In August of that year, a 100 mm deluge fell in Jangmok, Geoje within just one hour. This amount is one twenty-third of the annual rainfall, not over a day but within an hour. In the case of Germany, where 156 people died due to floods in July of the same year, the affected areas experienced torrential rain with a maximum of 180 mm per hour over 72 hours. The heavy rain continued nonstop for two days.

On the 13th, the temperature in Onslow, Western Australia, matched the record of 50.7 degrees Celsius set in 1962, the hottest in Australian history. Extreme abnormal weather such as heatwaves, heavy rain, severe cold, floods, and typhoons are no longer anomalies but have become the new standard. Humanity’s ability to respond to natural disasters is extremely limited. This is why governments and meteorological authorities worldwide are collaborating more actively than ever, exchanging information, and recognizing meteorological safety as a matter of security, increasing investments accordingly.

Park Kwang-seok, Commissioner of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), said, "The abnormal weather phenomena occurring not only in our country but globally are believed to be related to increased climate variability due to global warming," adding, "Recently, weather phenomena breaking previous records have been occurring more frequently, making weather forecasting increasingly difficult." Even last year, typhoons like Chanthu showed unusual paths, and sudden heavy showers accompanied by thunder, lightning, and hail occurred unusually often, causing significant forecasting challenges. Commissioner Park emphasized, "The fundamental and core meteorological forecasts and warnings are tasked with securing public safety and enhancing convenience, which is the KMA’s responsibility," highlighting the importance of investment in human and material resources, research and development, and communication with the public. He also expressed his ambition to transform the KMA into an advanced meteorological and climate country with the start of the Daejeon era in March.

- Leaving Seoul, which has been the base since 1905, and entering the Daejeon era.

△ About half of the policy departments will relocate to Daejeon, and when the National Meteorological Center is established in 2026, all core departments including forecasting and seismic monitoring will move there. The National Meteorological Center will serve as a stepping stone for a second leap forward and will be built as an eco-friendly carbon-neutral center in line with the climate crisis era. The forecasting department will move after the new National Meteorological Center is completed. Even after relocating to Daejeon, the KMA’s fundamental mission to "protect the lives and property of the people from meteorological disasters and climate change" will remain unchanged.

- There are concerns about a forecasting gap in the metropolitan area.

△ To strengthen the response system for hazardous weather in the metropolitan area, forecasters with rich experience in forecasting for the metropolitan region will be trained and deployed. The Metropolitan Meteorological Office will focus on hazardous weather and enhance response capabilities, working closely with the headquarters, which oversees nationwide forecasting. The characteristics of hazardous weather in the densely populated metropolitan area will be analyzed meticulously through three-dimensional intensive observations, and a digital communication team will be established to enhance communication with the media and the public via social media platforms such as YouTube.

Asia Exclusive_ Kwangseok Park, Director of the Korea Meteorological Administration./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

- The importance of forecasting has increased in the era of climate change.

△ The reliability of weather information depends on three key factors. The first is to secure accurate and sufficient observational data; the second is to obtain accurate model values; and the third is the ability of forecasters to analyze this data precisely. If any one of these falls short, the overall quality declines. Among these, the capability of forecasters is the most important. Our country’s forecasters have a high level of competence. The KMA operates tiered training programs for forecasters and introduced a professional civil servant system in meteorological forecasting since 2019 to build expertise institutionally. The observation network, which can be called the eyes of forecasters, is being strengthened, and observation technologies such as radar and satellites are under development. The Korean numerical weather prediction model is continuously improved through ongoing communication between developers and forecasters, who promptly address identified issues to enhance the model’s performance.

- There is significant public concern due to earthquakes in Gyeongju in 2016, Pohang in 2017, and Jeju last year.

△ The earthquake that occurred in the Seogwipo sea area on the afternoon of December 14 last year was analyzed to have been caused by horizontal movement of a fault in the north-south or east-west direction. It is believed to have been caused by strike-slip fault movement mainly occurring in the southern and western seas around the Korean Peninsula. Since 2000, there have been a total of 13 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or higher in Jeju and nearby sea areas, mostly occurring in the western sea area of Jeju. The magnitude 4.9 earthquake was the largest in Jeju and its vicinity. Unlike most inland earthquakes, which generally experience east-west compressive stress, the sea area near Jeju is analyzed to be under northeast-southwest compressive stress. This suggests that the fault structures causing earthquakes near Jeju may have different characteristics from other parts of the Korean Peninsula, indicating the need for investigation of earthquake-inducing faults near Jeju. An internal investigation plan is under review.

- In Japan, there is a possibility of Mount Fuji eruption. It is said that Korea is not a volcanic safety zone either.

△ The places classified as active volcanoes in Korea are Baekdusan, Ulleungdo, and Jeju Island, but no significant volcanic activity has been observed in Ulleungdo and Jeju since their last eruptions. The International Association of Volcanology classifies a volcano as active if it has had volcanic activity within the last 10,000 years. The last eruptions were Baekdusan (1903), Ulleungdo (about 5,000 years ago), and Jeju (about 1,000 years ago). Baekdusan showed an increase in volcanic earthquakes from 2002 to 2006 but then decreased, and analysis of satellite and local observation data over the past four years indicates that Baekdusan’s volcanic activity is stable. To continuously monitor Baekdusan’s volcanic activity, domestic and international cooperation such as Korea-China joint research will be strengthened, and a volcanic monitoring testbed will be established on Jeju Island. Necessary technology development and improvements to the volcanic monitoring system will be pursued to assess volcanic activity in Korea.

- The climate crisis and carbon neutrality are inseparable, but the industry is concerned about cost burdens.

△ It is important to build social consensus on cost burdens. If costs are to be borne, there must be agreement on how to distribute them and at what pace to proceed. Regarding the burden of carbon neutrality, Korea’s economy is highly dependent on foreign trade, and the position of importing countries is very important. The European Union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism is a representative example. To export to that country, it is inevitable to internalize carbon pricing and take related measures. The carbon neutrality issue is an international trend, and Korea will follow this trend domestically. Regardless of the speed, the direction has already been agreed upon.

- What are your aspirations for the remaining term?

△ Since taking office in November 2020, I have thought that building trust with the public is most important, so I have focused on fundamentals and strengthened communication. Short-term forecasts have been extended from the existing 3 days to up to 5 days and provided in one-hour increments. Difficult forecasting terms have been simplified, and regular forecast briefings and frequent briefings during hazardous weather have been held to quickly convey rapidly changing weather conditions. Direct communication with the public through YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms has been expanded, and the Meteorological Call Center, which communicates directly with the public, ranked first among central government agencies in the 2021 Service Quality Index (KSQI) conducted by the Korea Management Association Consulting. I will continue to strive so that these achievements are not one-time but lead to innovations in meteorological and climate services that the public can feel.

◆ Park Kwang-seok, Commissioner of the Korea Meteorological Administration

▲ Born in 1967 in Gyeonggi Province ▲ Dongbuk High School ▲ Seoul National University, Department of Political Science ▲ Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Administration ▲ Ph.D. in Policy Studies from the University of Delaware, USA ▲ Passed the 35th Administrative Examination ▲ Planning and Finance Officer, Planning and Coordination Office, Ministry of Environment ▲ Director of Resource Circulation Bureau, Ministry of Environment ▲ Director of Environmental Policy Office, Ministry of Environment ▲ Senior Administrative Officer, Climate and Environment Secretariat, Office of the President ▲ Director of Planning and Coordination Office, Ministry of Environment ▲ 14th Commissioner of the Korea Meteorological Administration

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