5 days of safety exercises begin Monday

Five-day safety drills began nationwide Monday in an effort to enhance the government’s emergency response to natural and man-made disasters. According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the largest scale exercises will continue until Friday, including 388 field exercises featuring diverse scenarios.

It said the drills can improve the government’s response capabilities to all kinds of threats, other than ones from North Korea. Firefighters exercised managing wild fires on Mount Bukhan on the day and they were also mobilized to extinguish a fire in the Gwacheon Government Complex.

On Jeju Island, authorities rescued passengers from a simulated blazing ferry.

The drills focus on earthquake response and related aftereffects. Last year’s Gyeongju quake reminded people that Korea is not safe from tremors.

The Ministry of Education will teach elementary students what to do when an earthquake hits.

At 2 p.m. Wednesday, alarms are scheduled to sound across the country and people are supposed to hide under tables or desks indoors or run to open spaces where there’s no danger of being hit by collapsing buildings.

In Seoul, firefighters will practice extinguishing fires in a building and rescuing the injured there following an earthquake.

In Gangneung, Gangwon Province, a special exercise will take place to respond quickly to adverse weather situations such as snowstorms, which could happen during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

On the same day, Sejong is scheduled to conduct a terrorist attack drill, while the Seoul Nambu Prison will run an exercise simulating a fire at the detention center and escaping inmates.

The last two days of the drills will see the government holding exercises on handling nuclear power plant accidents, cyber attacks, hazardous chemical attacks, infectious diseases and water shortages.