On the 23rd at 2 PM, 'Minbangwi Siren'... "No movement allowed for 15 minutes"

15-Minute Movement Restriction Scheduled
216 Roads Nationwide to Be Controlled

A civil defense drill for air raid preparedness involving the general public will be conducted simultaneously nationwide for the first time in six years. In particular, access to 216 locations nationwide, including roads and subway stations such as Sejong-daero in Seoul, will be restricted, so citizens with plans during that time should check the situation in advance and plan their movements accordingly.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 21st, the government will conduct the "Air Raid Preparedness Civil Defense Drill" for 20 minutes starting at 2 p.m. on the 23rd. However, 57 areas declared as special disaster zones due to recent heavy rains and the impact of Typhoon Khanun (No. 6) will be excluded from the drill.

Government officials attending the Civil Defense Day air raid shelter drill held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are practicing wearing gas masks. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

The air raid preparedness civil defense drill is designed to practice rapid evacuation in the event of an air raid situation such as North Korea's missile provocations. This is the first time in six years since August 2017 that the drill will include evacuation of the general public and vehicle control.

The drill will proceed in the order of air raid warning issuance, alert warning issuance, and warning cancellation. The siren duration for the air raid warning will be shortened from the previous 3 minutes to 1 minute. During the alert warning issuance and warning cancellation, the situation will be communicated through voice broadcasts and disaster text messages without sirens, and the end of the drill will be announced.

When the air raid warning is issued exactly at 2 p.m., citizens must immediately evacuate to the nearest civil defense shelter. If there is no nearby shelter, they should move to a safe underground space. As of the end of last year, about 17,000 civil defense shelters have been designated nationwide. Shelter locations can be searched on Naver, Kakao, T Map, the National Disaster Safety Portal, and other platforms.

When the air raid warning is issued, vehicle movement will be restricted. Vehicles in operation must stop on the right side of the road for 15 minutes from 2 p.m. and listen to live radio broadcasts. In Seoul, the controlled sections include three areas: ▲ Sejong-daero Intersection to Seoul Station Intersection ▲ Yeoui 2 Bridge Intersection to National Assembly Boulevard to Gwangheungchang Station Intersection ▲ Hagye Station Intersection to Junghwa Station Intersection. After the air raid warning, a joint military-police traffic control post will be set up at Seogang Bridge to operate a joint checkpoint according to wartime duties.

In each metropolitan city, three or more sections, and in cities and counties, at least one section, totaling 216 road sections will be controlled.

To minimize inconvenience and burden on citizens, hospitals, clinics, subways, railways, aircraft, and ships will be allowed to operate normally. However, passengers using subway and railway stations should be cautious. During the 15 minutes when the air raid warning is issued, even if passengers disembark from subways, movement outside the station will be restricted.

Additionally, this drill will include special training tailored to regional characteristics for residents in border areas, the five West Sea islands, and Yeongjongdo. In the border areas of Incheon, Gangwon, and Gyeonggi, realistic drills such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) defense training, gas mask wearing instructions, and emergency food experience will be conducted. On Baengnyeongdo and Yeonpyeongdo in the five West Sea islands, evacuation residents will participate in hovercraft boarding drills, and in Yeongjongdo, Incheon, injury transport drills will be conducted in conjunction.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to notify the public of the drill via disaster text messages on the 22nd, the day before the drill, and on the 23rd, the day of the drill. On the day of the drill, announcements will be made three times according to the warning stages (air raid, alert, cancellation). Additionally, each local government will send disaster text messages separately to inform citizens in advance about the vehicle movement control sections for the drill.

Meanwhile, the government will conduct the 2023 Ulchi Exercise for four days and three nights from the 21st to the 24th. The Ulchi Exercise is a government-level system to review and supplement emergency preparedness plans to protect the lives and property of the nation and its citizens in the event of war, armed conflict, or a comparable national emergency.

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