Siren Sounds and "Landslide" Broadcast Ignored by Residents, Evacuate Only After Police Arrival

Korea Forest Service Conducts 'Landslide Disaster Evacuation Drill' in Boeun, Chungbuk
Nam Seong-hyun, Korea Forest Service Chief: "Minimizing Casualties Is an Essential Task"

The sharp sound of a siren pierced the air, breaking the silence of the rural village. Following the siren, the village chief’s urgent voice was heard, saying, “A landslide is expected in the village, and there is concern for potential casualties. Please move to a safe place and pay close attention to the announcements.”

On the 22nd, at the 'Landslide Disaster Preparedness Evacuation Drill' site in Jangjaeri, Jangan-myeon, Boeun, Chungbuk, Forest Service officials are assisting an elderly resident in their 80s to move to the shelter. Photo by Forest Service

On the 22nd, the Korea Forest Service conducted a ‘Landslide Disaster Preparedness Evacuation Drill’ in Jangjaeri, Jangan-myeon, Boeun, Chungbuk. The drill was carried out under the assumption of a situation where heavy rain falls in a short period, increasing the risk of landslides. On this day, the drill was simultaneously conducted at 27 locations nationwide, including Jangjaeri.

This is the first time this year that a resident evacuation drill simulating a landslide situation has been conducted. The background for introducing the drill is to raise awareness among residents about the seriousness of the increasingly frequent landslides and to enable them to learn evacuation procedures through realistic training.

A panoramic view of Jangjaeri village in Jangan-myeon, Boeun, Chungbuk, where the 'Landslide Disaster Preparedness Evacuation Drill' was conducted on the 22nd. The forest behind the village residential area is currently designated as a landslide-prone zone, and the forestry authorities assess that the risk of actual landslides is high during heavy rainfall. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

◆ Rapid Situation Transmission and Resident Evacuation = The drill scenario was simultaneously broadcast at 3 p.m. via residents’ personal mobile phones (disaster text messages) and the ‘Smart Village Broadcasting System (broadcast)’ distributed to each household. In addition, the Korea Forest Service, as the drill organizer, shared the evacuation status of residents moment by moment through the disaster safety communication network (PS-LTE) while dividing roles with five regional forest services, local police stations, fire stations, and other related agencies to assist resident evacuation.

At Jangjaeri, as soon as the drill started, about 20 employees from the Korea Forest Service’s Landslide Prevention Division and Operations Support Division (emergency planning team), five police officers in two police cars, and three rescue personnel in one 119 ambulance were deployed. Officials from each agency came outside to guide confused residents to safe evacuation routes and made efforts to evacuate residents who had not yet left their homes by checking around the village.

Residents who left their homes boarded police cars and Korea Forest Service transport vehicles waiting at the village entrance and took refuge at the multipurpose gymnasium, the evacuation shelter. During the evacuation, one resident fainted but was safely transported with the help of the 119 paramedics on site.

At the end of the series of on-site evacuation activities, the Korea Forest Service chief received reports on evacuation status from each drill site via PS-LTE at the landslide prevention support headquarters set up at the shelter. The drill concluded around 4 p.m. after all 27 local forest services in charge of the villages reported ‘resident evacuation completed.’

During the 'Landslide Disaster Preparedness Evacuation Drill,' a 119 paramedic is providing emergency care to a resident who fainted while moving to the shelter. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

◆ Essential Requirement for Minimizing Disaster Damage = ‘Rapid evacuation’ is an essential requirement for minimizing disaster damage. In that sense, the drill in Jangjaeri was generally completed smoothly. However, field officials agree that it is difficult to expect all evacuation processes to be the same as the drill in an actual situation.

The Korea Forest Service conducted the drill assuming that some residents might not leave their homes even after the announcement. The core of this drill is a kind of forced evacuation where police explain and persuade residents who resist evacuation to come outside.

The role of resisting evacuation in the drill was played by resident Gu Ja-hyung (70) of Jangjaeri. When forest officials requested him to evacuate outside, he resisted by saying things like, “There’s nothing wrong. Why should I leave my home?” but eventually joined the evacuation line when the police appeared.

Earlier, the Korea Forest Service established a ‘pre-cooperation system’ with the police to implement a system that can induce (force) evacuation of residents who refuse to evacuate during disasters such as landslides.

After the drill, Mr. Gu said, “I think the process of police persuading residents to evacuate would be effective in an actual situation. Elderly people often find it difficult to properly recognize disaster situations like landslides and tend to be reluctant to leave their homes, but when the police actually appear, they might think, ‘Do I really have to leave?’ and be persuaded.”

He added, “Jangjaeri is a small rural village with 23 residents in 10 households. If a similar situation occurs, while it is good to receive help from outside, residents themselves should have the will to look after their neighbors and escape from the disaster situation.”

After completing the 'Landslide Disaster Preparedness Evacuation Drill,' Nam Seong-hyun, the Administrator of the Korea Forest Service, is discussing improvements and other issues with the drill participants. Photo by Korea Forest Service

At the end of the drill, an evaluation of the drill process was held at the landslide prevention support headquarters, presided over by Nam Seong-hyun, the chief of the Korea Forest Service. At this meeting, Chief Nam emphasized, “Forest disasters such as landslides can occur anywhere nationwide, not just in specific areas. The government prioritizes ‘minimizing casualties through resident evacuation’ in disaster response.”

He continued, “Although we cannot prevent landslides caused by heavy rain, we must be able to prevent casualties. We hope that this first-ever drill provided Jangjaeri residents with an opportunity to personally experience and learn evacuation procedures and instilled the awareness that they must evacuate without hesitation in disaster situations.”

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