Expert: M’sians should learn from South Korea’s nationwide civil defence drill

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians in South Korea should make use of the knowledge they learn from the nation’s first nationwide civil defence exercise set to take place on Wednesday (23 August), says an academic.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) strategic studies and international relations senior lecturer Dr. Hoo Chiew Ping told Bernama that raising awareness of disaster management before it occurs is beneficial for Malaysia and other nations as well.

“For example, as we face floods from time-to-time, it would be great for us to hold a drill to evaluate whether our government and military assets are adequate to manage large-scale evacuation events due to unforeseen circumstances.”

She said this when asked how significant the exercise would impact Malaysians residing in the East Asian nation as the Malaysian embassy in Seoul on Tuesday (Aug 22) had urged them to adhere closely to directives from local authorities throughout the drill.

In 2021, there were 3442 Malaysians residing in the country.

The exercise lasting 20 minutes – the fist in six years – is part of the preparations for potential air raids, international media reported. South Korea views seriously the potential threat from its nemesis and neighbour, North Korea.

Hoo – whose main research focuses on the Korean peninsula’s security issues and the peace process – pointed out the exercise is dubbed as “unique” as the South Korean government emphasises the real-life scenario with a larger scale exercise this time around.

“The drill is where they need to get every citizen and resident in sync with the government’s evacuation plan.

“I think this time, the scenario will be different from what South Koreans experienced previously. With the challenge posed by drones that can potentially be used to conduct a terrorist attack, this is a new threat that I think has not been incorporated in the past exercises.

“Hence, practising evacuation for a large number of residents is necessary and timely,” said Hoo, who is also conducting research related to major powers’ North Korea policy, inter-Korean relations and Southeast Asia’s relations with the two Koreas.

Last Thursday (Aug 17), South Korea’s Ministry of Public Administration and Security announced that a civil defence drill in preparation for air raids will be held for 20 minutes where the general public will evacuate to a safe place.

Fifty-seven areas declared as special disaster areas due to heavy rain in July and Typhoon Khanun in early August will be excluded from the exercise, according to international media.

The drill will kick off with an air-raid warning and conclude with a siren indicating the end of the exercise at 2.20 pm. – Bernama