Seoul Metro Realistic Training for Crisis Preparedness

On the 24th, Terror Response Drill Conducted at Seoul Metro Headquarters... Joint Cooperation System Established with 12 Agencies Including Military, Police, and Fire Department

Hostage Terrorism Suppression Training

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seoul Metro Corporation (President Kim Sang-beom) will conduct an anti-terrorism drill on the 24th as part of the 2022 Eulji Exercise.

The drill is aimed at enhancing emergency response capabilities by conducting response training for Seoul’s subway, a national critical infrastructure.

The Eulji Exercise is a government-level training conducted to actively respond to national emergencies. The 2022 Eulji Exercise will be held continuously day and night for 3 nights and 4 days from August 22 to 25.

On August 22, the corporation will conduct an unannounced emergency assembly of employees and anti-terrorism education, and on the 23rd, a meeting will be held regarding measures to take in case of a fire caused by a terrorist attack on a running train.

On August 24, five scenarios will be presented. Among them, the headquarters chemical terrorism scenario, the control center hostage terrorism scenario, and the headquarters drone terrorism scenario will be conducted as actual drills.

The subway station explosive terrorism scenario and the train depot hostage terrorism scenario will be pre-drilled at Chungjeongno Station and Changdong Train Depot, respectively, and the response measures for each situation will be reviewed through video footage.

The 2022 Eulji Exercise involves eight organizations including the Special Warfare Command, Capital Defense Command, ROK Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Command, 56th Division, Seongdong Police Station, Seoul 119 Special Rescue Team, and Seongdong Fire Station, participating alongside the corporation to strengthen cooperation among military, police, and fire agencies and to check mission execution during emergencies.

Including all five scenarios conducted on the 24th, about 230 support personnel from 12 organizations will participate together.

The actual drill begins with a chemical terrorism scenario aimed at paralyzing the corporation’s headquarters functions. Unknown chemical gas infiltrates the headquarters building, restricting facility use and causing casualties, resulting in paralysis of the headquarters’ operational functions. The corporation will take swift initial actions and, in cooperation with related agencies, will block the gas source, conduct rescue operations, and decontaminate the affected areas.

The hostage terrorism at the second control center and the drone attack terrorism drill on the headquarters building are intended to respond to attempts to paralyze control functions. After rapid situation reporting and support requests, the corporation will operate an on-site accident response headquarters. Collaboration with related agencies such as emergency rescue (fire station), perimeter blocking and reinforcement (police), terrorist suppression and drone shooting down (military units) will proceed smoothly. The corporation will do its best to restore power outages and recover from terrorism damage.

Assuming facility damage such as the suspension of Line 5 subway due to hostage riots, intense drills resembling real combat, including rappel descent and suppression operations, will be conducted.

As Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, is responsible for the transportation network, the Seoul subway is nationally important and can be a target of terrorism. If the subway is paralyzed, the damage to Seoul would be enormous, so strengthening response capabilities in emergencies is essential. Through this drill, the corporation plans to establish a close cooperative system with related agencies to minimize damage spread and secure citizen safety during emergencies.

Shim Jae-chang, Director of the Safety Management Headquarters, stated, “Through this Eulji Exercise, we will be able to train subway safety measures tailored to various situations,” and added, “We will build a Seoul subway that can ensure citizen safety even in emergencies.”

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