Parliamentary debate on ways to establish a one-stop system for preventing, suppressing and recovering from major wildfire disasters
National Assembly members Min Hong-cheol and Kim Jeong-ho held a debate on ‘Ways to establish a one-stop system for preventing, suppressing and recovering from major wildfire disasters’ at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building on 31 July. Dr Kwon Chun-geun of the National Institute of Forest Science is giving a presentation. [Photo = Reporter Jo Jeong-hoon]
It has been argued that an integrated wildfire management system covering the entire cycle from prevention and suppression to recovery is needed in response to wildfires, whose frequency and scale of damage are increasing due to climate change. As existing methods focused on fragmented responses have limitations in wildfire management, the explanation was that it is necessary to consider how to apply and integrate technologies at each stage and systematise them.
Dr Kwon Chun-geun of the National Institute of Forest Science under the Korea Forest Service made this remark at a debate on ‘Ways to establish a one-stop system for preventing, suppressing and recovering from major wildfire disasters’, held at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building on 31 July.
At the event, Dr Kwon Chun-geun gave a presentation on ‘Ways to establish an integrated management system for each stage of wildfire disaster management using advanced technologies’ and emphasised that innovating disaster management based on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), satellites and drones, the Internet of Things (IoT), and digital twins is an important task.
For the prevention stage, he proposed establishing a system for quantifying and monitoring fuel loads through analysis of three-dimensional terrain and vegetation data based on LiDAR, in order to precisely determine the fuel load in each at-risk area. He also mentioned the need for visualisation, such as producing long-term wildfire risk maps based on climate scenarios.
At the preparedness stage, he considered establishing an integrated command system using digital technology to be key. This means that a real-time situation-sharing system should be established to prevent confusion between organisations.
Dr Kwon proposed establishing a multi-layered monitoring system integrating satellites, drones and sensors, as well as applying AI technologies to detect smoke patterns and infrared temperature anomalies, during the response stage, when early detection and spread prediction technologies are important.
He mentioned that, during the recovery stage, it is important to quickly identify the extent and causes of the damage and systematically support the recovery of forests and local communities. He also said that an integrated support system encompassing psychological recovery after disasters should be established.
Dr Kwon said, “As wildfires have become complex disasters, it is essential to move beyond the existing response focused on firefighting and transition to an integrated management system that uses advanced technology throughout the entire cycle.” He added, “To ensure public safety, we must establish a practical, technology-based wildfire disaster management system by expanding the government’s investment in technology R&D, building a public–private collaborative operating platform, and improving the legal and institutional framework.”
Meanwhile, the forum, hosted and organised by National Assembly Members Min Hong-cheol (Democratic Party of Korea, Gimhae Gap, Gyeongsangnam-do) and Kim Jeong-ho (Democratic Party of Korea, Gimhae Eul, Gyeongsangnam-do), was attended by a large number of industry representatives, who exchanged views on the current state of wildfire prevention policy implementation and ways to improve it.
The forum featured presentations and a panel discussion on topics including: ▲Current status and improvement measures for wildfire prevention policy implementation (Hwang Jeong-seok, Director of the Wildfire Policy and Technology Research Institute) ▲The present and future of modern large-scale wildfires (Dr Jang Jae-young, Forest Holdings) ▲Building a one-stop system and a multidimensional response system using AI (Bang Gi-seong, President of the Korea Disaster Prevention Association; Lee Byeong-seok, Professor at Soonchunhyang University; Lee Hwan-ho, CEO of CLEVI) ▲Measures for building an integrated management system for each stage of wildfire disaster management using advanced technology (Dr Kwon Chun-geun, National Institute of Forest Science, Korea Forest Service).
In his opening remarks, National Assembly Member Min Hong-cheol stressed, “The large-scale wildfires that occurred along the east coast and in northern Gyeongsangbuk-do in March this year provided an opportunity to reflect on the current state of our country’s disaster response system.” He added, “Wildfire management policy must integrate the entire process into a one-stop system, from the prevention stage of detecting and blocking wildfires, through rapid and efficient firefighting, to a recovery system with resilience.”
On 31 July, presenters and guests took a commemorative photograph at the forum on ‘Measures for Building a One-Stop System for the Prevention, Firefighting and Recovery of Large-Scale Wildfire Disasters’, held at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building. [Photo = Reporter Cho Jeong-hoon]
Reporter Cho Jeong-hoon [email protected]
Source: Electric Times (Reporter Cho Jeong-hoon) | https://www.electimes.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=358521