Interior ministry shifts disaster-network training toward field drills

The interior ministry said Monday it will shift disaster-safety communications-network training toward institution-specific field exercises, citing the growing scale, complexity and geographic reach of disasters and the need for faster coordinated responses.

The revised programme will expand disaster-training scenarios to 14 from six. The eight new types include landslides, nuclear accidents, electric-vehicle fires, chemical accidents and flooding in underground spaces; existing scenarios include wildfires and wind-and-flood damage. The ministry said the additions reflect requests from the field for a broader range of disaster types.

It will also introduce a course to prepare instructors inside agencies that use the network. The curriculum will combine instruction on the network and standard operating procedures with communications practice and guidance on designing an agency's own training programme. Graduates will return to their agencies to train new staff and lead regular sessions. Under the ministry's plan, agencies will progressively set and sustain their own training plans rather than depend on ministry-led instruction.

Rather than focus solely on device functions, the programme will expand joint exercises involving actual disaster situations. Participants will repeatedly rehearse unified-command operations, real-time sharing of disaster information and cooperation among institutions. Training content will also incorporate response experiences and practices from other institutions.

The national disaster communications infrastructure supports a single network through which central and local governments, police, fire services, coast guard, military and medical institutions can communicate and establish a unified command system.

"The ultimate goal of disaster-safety communications-network education and training is to protect people's lives and property through rapid situation-sharing and joint responses among institutions at disaster sites," Park Hyeong-bae, the ministry's director general for safety prevention policy, said.