Ministry of the Interior and Safety Partners with 9 Universities to Foster Disaster Management Experts

Agreement Ceremony for Training Experts in Disaster Management and Earthquake Prevention

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 4th that it signed a business agreement with nine universities on the 4th to efficiently respond to changes in disaster patterns through the 'Disaster Management and Earthquake Disaster Prevention Specialized Workforce Training Project.'

The selection of universities for this project was restructured through a survey of existing supported universities, as well as surveys of universities and companies, to encourage more diverse university participation and enhance the project's effectiveness. Five universities participate in the disaster management field: Kangwon National University, Dong-Eui University (new), Chungbuk National University, Hansung University (new), and Soongsil University. In the earthquake disaster prevention field, Kyungpook National University (new), Kunsan National University, Sejong University, and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology cooperate.

First, an online project briefing session was held to strengthen promotion. Additional points were awarded to newly participating universities, and participation requirements were relaxed to lower entry barriers for new universities. Furthermore, to produce high-quality professionals with practical skills and to enable continuous and voluntary workforce training even after government support ends, the evaluation system was improved by activating industry-academia cooperation and efforts toward self-reliance, concretizing each university's operational plans.

Through this agreement, universities will receive 300 million KRW in national funding over two years each, develop and operate curricula and educational programs, and strive to produce specialized personnel through scholarship provision and industry-academia cooperation activities. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to manage performance by differentially allocating the second-year budget based on project evaluations (first-year evaluation and completion evaluation) for each school, limiting project participation to one time, and ensuring participating universities carry out the project responsibly.

Kim Seong-ho, Head of the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters, who attended the agreement ceremony, said, “By systematically training specialized personnel, we plan to closely cooperate with each university so that the national level of disaster management can be elevated to a higher level.”

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