Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Ministry of National Defense has considered and determined the following defense safety management priorities:

Preventing safety accidents by creating a safe service environment
Improving specialized capabilities, such as the pool of investigators
Promoting efficient management based on scientific technologies
Strengthening military support to civil authorities in the event of a national disaster

The Ministry of National Defense plans to push forward with the strengthening of defense safety by spending 2 trillion and 158.7 billion won in this area over the next five years.

The ministry’s spokesperson said that the ministry had considered and decided its ‘2021-2025 defense safety management master plan’ at the Defense Safety Policies Coordinating Committee presided over by Vice Minister Park Jae-min on February 1.

The defense safety management master plan is a mid-to-long term plan addressing all safety-related areas of defense, including safety, health, and disasters. It consists of 4 strategies and 12 tasks in three areas, including natural disasters, social disasters and safety accidents, and common public services. The plan also stipulates that 2 trillion and 158.7 billion won in funding will be distributed in this area by 2025.

The ministry plans to strengthen defense safety based on the plan. First, the ministry plans to push for the strengthening of the seismic performance of infrastructures, as well as the attachment of safety gear, including rear-facing cameras, to military vehicles, in order to create a safe defense mission environment.

The ministry will also expand its capability to respond effectively to disasters and safety accidents. The ministry plans to push for the strengthening of specialized capabilities, including the organization of a pool of investigators, to investigate military safety accidents. In addition to this, the ministry plans to enhance its capability to respond to infectious diseases by building infectious disease research facilities, as well as securing negative pressure wards.

The ministry will also push for the efficient management of defense safety based on scientific technologies. The development of a defense safety management data system and an integrated disaster management data system will lead to the establishment of safety management systems, including smart factories and wearable safety controls for unsafe work, in high-risk maintenance fields, as well as the digitization of safety and disaster management areas.

The ministry will work to contribute to the safety of the public by strengthening military support to civil authorities in the event of national disasters. First, the ministry will reinforce equipment and supplies to help the disaster, search and rescue task forces carry out their specialized missions in the event of major and emergency disaster situations. More importantly, the ministry plans to establish a unified support system through the ‘defense rapid support group,’ maintaining a support posture focused on the military disaster response force.

At the Monday conference, Vice Minister Park asked “all echelons of national defense to strive to maintain a firm combat readiness based on stable defense safety management,” stressing that “defense safety is a defense mission that requires both a medium-term and long-term vision and attention, as presented in the ‘2021-2025 defense safety management master plan’ considered and decided today.”

The Monday videoconference also dealt with a discussion of this year’s plan as well as an analysis of the implementation of safety policies over the the last year.

By Chae-Mu, Im lims86@dema.mil.kr

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