Nowon-gu District Chief Seo Jun-o attended the inaugural ceremony of the Nowon-style Youth Autonomous Disaster Prevention Corps on Friday morning at the integrated civil defense operations center on the first below-ground floor of the district office, encouraging the young recruits and marking the official launch of their activities.
The Nowon-style Youth Autonomous Disaster Prevention Corps is the first youth-led disaster safety organization in a Seoul autonomous district to be formed in partnership with universities. It was established to build a tighter local safety network by combining the digital capabilities and mobility of younger generations with the extensive field experience of the existing autonomous disaster prevention corps.
The ceremony was attended by District Chief Seo, the head of Nowon-gu's autonomous disaster prevention corps and newly commissioned members. It proceeded in order with the presentation of appointment certificates and words of encouragement, a commemorative photo session, and an operational briefing and orientation.
The 10 commissioned members will begin full-scale activities in August. They plan to carry out online work — including producing disaster-prevention content and running social media campaigns — as well as patrolling disaster-prone areas such as local streams and running community-based safety culture campaigns. In October, they will also take part in the "Safe Korea Drill," building hands-on response skills in areas such as civilian control and resident evacuation guidance.
The existing Nowon-gu Autonomous Disaster Prevention Corps has carried out a wide range of disaster prevention activities, including forest fire patrols, river monitoring, heat wave response and snow removal. It ranked second nationwide in the Ministry of Interior and Safety's national autonomous disaster prevention corps evaluation in 2024 and fourth in 2023. The district expects the youth corps to work alongside the existing corps and establish itself as a new local safety model that combines the strengths of both generations.
"I hope you will take pride in the fact that young people are stepping up to lead the way on neighborhood safety, and that you will carry out your activities with energy," District Chief Seo said. "Nowon-gu will provide solid support so that you can work safely and find your efforts rewarding."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
