Daegu to get 2nd control center for civil defense drill alarms

A second control center for civil defense drill alarms will be built in Daegu by 2012 to brace for a North Korean attack in addition to one in Osan, Gyeonggi Province.

The head of the National Emergency Management Agency, Park Yeon-soo, told The Dong-A Ilbo in an interview Friday, “To maintain an alarm system for civil defense drills even if the Osan center is bombed by North Korea and suffers technical problems, we’ve decided to build the second central control center in Daegu by 2012.”

The decision apparently stems from the North’s provocations becoming more open as seen in the Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

The agency did not disclose the exact location of the second center but has reportedly finished coordination with the military.

If the North launches an attack with fighters and missiles, the Osan center alerts people to take shelter by sounding alarm bells installed at 1,612 places nationwide. A small number of public officials in cooperation with the military run the center.

While building the second center, the agency will improve the cooperation system with the military to sound sirens if the North launches artillery attacks as well as air strikes.

In case of a virtual North Korean attack, the heads of townships and villages will be allowed to independently blow sirens and report this to the government.

On criticism that only 11 of the combined 25,724 shelters nationwide have defense facilities against chemical, biological and radioactive attacks, the agency said it will gradually expand such facilities.

Park said, “With the risk of a North Korean attack growing more than ever, we aim to protect the people by expanding the number of control centers and improving the civil defense drill system,” adding, “We’ve developed a cost-effective way to install defense facilities against chemical, biological and radioactive attacks, so I believe we can install such facilities from next year.”

In addition, a bureau in the agency will handle civil defense drills and defense education will be strengthened by reorganizing the National Disaster Management Institute into a think tank for civil defense education.

The agency will also nurture civil defense experts by providing additional education for members of voluntary civil defense corps.

Furthermore, a new system will seek to prevent natural disasters that happen on an increasingly large scale. The system will detect small clues in news articles and on the Web for analysis by experts.

The results of analyses will be divided into five categories: serious, caution, careful, attention and observation. If the results are classified as serious, the agency will urge residents to take shelter and stop using affected facilities.

The agency will also reform its promotion system to allow rank-and-file staff members to climb the ranks.

argus@donga.com