Amendment to Disaster and Safety Management Act approved at Cabinet meeting Tuesday

Local governments required to draw up evacuation plans for vulnerable residents

A wildfire burns on a hillside in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, in March 2025. [Korea Forest Service]
A wildfire burns on a hillside in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, in March 2025. [Korea Forest Service]

When local government heads issue evacuation orders during a disaster, they will now be required to provide specific information on where residents should go and how to get there. They will also be obligated to draw up evacuation plans for residents who cannot evacuate on their own.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said Tuesday that a Cabinet meeting approved a promulgation bill amending the Framework Act on Disaster and Safety Management.

The amendment was drafted to overhaul the resident evacuation system following the major wildfires of March last year, during which casualties occurred — particularly among vulnerable groups — because people did not know where to evacuate or were unable to do so without assistance.

Under the revised law, mayors, county chiefs and district mayors must include specific evacuation instructions when issuing evacuation orders. They may also request that disaster forecasts, alerts and notifications include evacuation-related information, such as designated shelter locations and evacuation routes.

Local government heads must also establish resident evacuation plans — covering the designation of shelters and the maintenance of evacuation routes — to minimize casualties among vulnerable groups who cannot evacuate on their own. The amendment takes effect six months after its promulgation.

"The most important means of preventing tragic loss of life in an emergency is swift evacuation," Minister of Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung said. "The government will build a more thorough evacuation system so that no one struggles to evacuate because they do not know where to go or have difficulty moving."


thlee@heraldcorp.com