Korea Local Administration Institute to Hold 'Korea-Japan Regional Policy Research Forum' in Japan on May 13

Korea and Japan Pursue Local Government-Led Disaster Management Systems
Comparative Study and Improvement Tasks for Local Government-Led Disaster Management
32nd Korea-Japan Regional Policy Research Forum Held in Kumamoto

The Korea Local Administration Institute (President: Yuk Dong-il) and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) of Japan will co-host the "32nd Korea-Japan Regional Policy Research Forum (2026-1)" on May 13 at the Hotel Terusa in Kumamoto, Japan.

Logo of Korea Research Institute for Local Administration. Courtesy of Korea Research Institute for Local Administration

This forum is part of the regular academic exchanges between the two institutions that have continued since 2010. It was organized to seek future directions for disaster management systems led by local governments, based on the disaster management experiences of both Korea and Japan.

The main theme of the forum is "Comparative Study and Improvement Tasks of Local Government-Led Disaster Management Systems." The forum will feature presentations on Korea's response to crowd surge disasters and strategies to strengthen disaster safety functions at the eup, myeon, and dong levels, as well as Japan's national-local relations during large-scale disasters and Kumamoto Prefecture's disaster prevention and recovery experiences. Experts from both countries will engage in in-depth discussions on institutional implications and the practical applicability of these models in the field.

On the Korean side, Lee Kyung-eun, Director of the Disaster Safety Research Center at the Korea Local Administration Institute, will present "Beyond Response to Recovery: Directions for Redesigning Korea's Local Disaster Management System through the 10·29 Itaewon Disaster Case." This presentation will highlight the need to shift the focus of disaster management from simple response and physical restoration to a "recovery-centered" system that encompasses the daily recovery of victims and the community, using the Itaewon disaster as a catalyst.

Following this, Yoo Ja-young, Director of the Organizational Diagnosis and Analysis Center at the Korea Local Administration Institute, will present "A Study on Strengthening Disaster Safety Functions of Local Governments - Focusing on Eup, Myeon, and Dong." This presentation will emphasize the necessity of enhancing disaster safety functions at the frontline administrative units of eup, myeon, and dong in light of major disasters such as the Itaewon tragedy, Sillim-dong flooding, and wildfires. It will propose strengthening on-site response capabilities through classification based on regional characteristics and tailored models, including personnel reallocation, work adjustment, and public-private cooperation.

On the Japanese side, Professor Tetsuo Murota of GRIPS will present "The Relationship Between the National and Local Governments in Large-Scale Disasters." His talk will explain how roles are integrated and coordinated among the national government, prefectural governments, and basic local governments in the event of large-scale disasters, based on the core principle of "primacy of basic local governments" in Japan's disaster management system.

In addition, the Crisis Management Director of Kumamoto Prefecture will present on "Kumamoto Prefecture's Disaster Prevention Efforts," sharing disaster response and "creative recovery" experiences accumulated through the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and the heavy rains of July 2020.

Yuk Dong-il, President of the Korea Local Administration Institute, stated, "This Korea-Japan Regional Policy Research Forum is a meaningful occasion to share the disaster management experience and policy capacity accumulated by both countries, and to jointly design the future of disaster management systems led by local governments." He added, "Through comparative research and field-based discussions between Korea and Japan, we aim to seek practical policy alternatives that will advance disaster response and recovery systems led by local communities."

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