Interior ministry hosts ASEAN disaster officials for science-focused training

South Korea's interior ministry said Monday it is hosting nine working-level disaster management officials from four ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, known as the AHA Centre, for a five-day training program running through Friday.

The 2026 ASEAN disaster management officials' training, now in its fourth year after starting in 2023, is being held in Songdo in Incheon and across Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, with participants from Vietnam, Malaysia, Timor-Leste and Cambodia. This year's program is built around the theme of science, technology and innovation for disaster management.

Participants will study Korea's disaster management policies and institutions, including its information and communication technology systems for disaster response, early warning systems, and the use of artificial intelligence and overseas data. The sessions pair lectures with field visits and set aside time for each delegation to present its own disaster management situation and main policy tasks, with discussions and question-and-answer sessions with Korean experts aimed at identifying ways to improve.

The field program includes a visit to the Incheon metropolitan government's disaster and safety situation room and a tour of a disaster safety technology company to review recent technical developments and cases of on-site application. Participants will also meet officials and volunteer disaster prevention corps members in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, to discuss community-led response activities and public-private cooperation.

On the final day, the officials will present plans for applying Korean systems to their own countries' policies, a step the ministry said is meant to carry the training's results into practical policy changes on the ground.

"This training is a meaningful opportunity to share with ASEAN countries the disaster management policy experience Korea has accumulated and cases of advanced technology use," said Hwang Beom-soon, director-general of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's disaster management policy bureau. "We will continue to work to raise disaster management capacity together and contribute to strengthening disaster response capabilities through close cooperation with ASEAN countries."