Korea's model of public administration is seeing rising global prominence. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety last month presented benchmarks of public sector advancement to diplomatic delegations from 93 countries, promoting the potential of Hallyu (Korean Wave) in public administration. This series covers five innovative examples like disaster management, smart agriculture, forest restoration and construction of administrative cities.

By Margareth Theresia

The climate crisis and the advent of new technologies have spawned "invisible dangers" unprecedented in daily life.

A domestically developed scientific disaster management system to respond to such contingencies has gained global kudos including from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and is setting a new standard for public administration.

The world faces risks considerably different from those in the past, ranging from climate anomalies like extreme winter temperatures and large-scale wildfires to malfunctions in self-driving cars, advances in information and communications technology, and rising social risks stemming from demographic shifts like the rapidly aging society and vacant homes.

Given that new types of potential risks are crossing borders, the concept of "preemptive detection" rather than post-disaster recovery is emerging as a crucial task.

To proactively gauge such risk factors, the National Disaster Management Research Institute under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety runs the Potential Disaster Risk Analysis Center. Through big data and artificial intelligence, the facility regularly searches for new risk factors. It analyzes probability of occurrence, extent of expected damage and development patterns in 3D.

This data is the foundation for "scenario technology," which simulates crisis situations and develops responses. The center uses this information to develop maps to predict disasters with precision.

 

A notable achievement was a report on national potential risks published twice a year since 2023. Starting with an inaugural study on fire hazards in the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles, the report has seen 15 volumes that help identify emerging risks in society and proposes specific responses.

The analyses go beyond just documentation; they form the backbone of national policy. They are immediately reflected in the five-year national plan for safety management and the annual strategy. Ministries and local governments must devise annual plans based on the risk factors identified by the report.

Practical training seeks to raise on-site response capacity. The newly regularized Safe Korea Exercise seeks to expand the scope of private participation as well as joint training among relevant agencies, with the focus on connecting scientific analyses to rapid action in the field.

"The strength of the Korean system lies in the systematic operation of the entire process based on standardized procedures, starting from detection of risk factors to response," a ministry official said. "We will boost communication to raise public understanding of disaster risks and prepare together."

margareth@korea.kr