Interior ministry hosts review of Ulchi exercise with 580,000 participants

Prime Minister Han Sung-sook chaired a post-review meeting for the 2026 Ulchi Exercise on Friday, urging officials to treat thorough preparation and repetitive training as the primary means of protecting public life and safety.

The session brought together heads of central administrative agencies and provincial governors at the Government Complex Seoul to analyze the outcomes of the four-day drill held from Aug. 18 to 21. Approximately 580,000 participants from some 4,000 institutions, including government bodies and key industrial firms, took part in scenarios simulating modern warfare threats such as AI-generated fake news, cyberattacks and drone terrorism.

To strengthen nationwide wartime response capabilities, the government newly established an inter-ministerial meeting presided over by a deputy prime minister. Safety measures were also reinforced with specific guidelines for outdoor training during heat wave warnings, introduced in response to this summer's record-breaking temperatures.

Jeong Ji-yong, a retired Army brigadier general leading the review panel, evaluated the exercise as significant for verifying plans amid escalating North Korean military threats. He noted the urgent need to rapidly build a technology-based preparedness system to address emerging threats utilizing artificial intelligence and drones.

The government plans to refine emergency preparedness protocols, including civilian action guidelines and wartime operational plans, by incorporating feedback from the meeting. An improved exercise is scheduled for next year based on these updated plans.

"To maintain state functions and protect the lives and safety of our people, thorough preparation and repetitive training during peacetime are more important than anything else," Han said. She directed that civil servants must clearly understand their individual duties and develop the capacity to act immediately when a crisis occurs.