Seventeen agencies, including the district office and fire station, will conduct a joint crowd-crush response exercise at Naru Art Center on Monday
Gwangjin-gu will hold its "2026 Disaster Response Safe Korea Training" at Naru Art Center at 2 p.m. Monday, joined by local partner agencies.
The Safe Korea Training is a joint exercise that disaster management agencies conduct annually to prepare for large-scale disasters, with the goal of strengthening inter-agency cooperation and improving overall response capabilities.
Gwangjin-gu was named an outstanding institution in the Ministry of Interior and Safety's evaluation of the 2025 Safe Korea Training last year — the fourth consecutive year it received the designation.
Organized by the Gwangjin-gu district office and the Gwangjin Fire Station, this year's drill will simulate a scenario in which a fire breaks out during a performance at Naru Art Center's main hall, triggering a crowd crush as evacuating audience members rush toward the exits at once.
The district chose "a crowd crush at a performance venue caused by fire" as the exercise scenario in recognition that congestion during evacuation at multi-use facilities can cause casualties on a par with the fire itself.
Seventeen agencies and organizations will take part, including the Gwangjin Police Station, the Army's 3298th Unit, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Yesko, the Gwangjin Cultural Foundation and the local volunteer disaster prevention corps.
The drill will link the on-site exercise at Naru Art Center with a tabletop exercise at the Gwangjin-gu Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in real time, mirroring actual disaster conditions.
The exercise will also use the public safety LTE (PS-LTE) network to test communication between the disaster headquarters and the integrated support command, and to verify coordinated response procedures with partner agencies.
"In places where large crowds gather, such as performance venues, early response is paramount," Gwangjin-gu District Mayor Kim Kyung-ho said. "Through this drill, we will further solidify our cooperative framework with partner agencies so that we can respond without hesitation when a real disaster strikes."
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