Interior minister visits North Gyeongsang Province, site of last year's major wildfires, to inspect autumn fire preparedness

Mountains surrounding the parking lot of Gounsa Temple in Uiseong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, burn on March 25 last year. [Yonhap]
Mountains surrounding the parking lot of Gounsa Temple in Uiseong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, burn on March 25 last year. [Yonhap]

The Ministry of Interior and Safety visited the Yeongdeok Fire Station and Juwangsan National Park in North Gyeongsang Province on Friday to inspect autumn wildfire preparedness — including scientific mountain rescue and fire-response support systems — and to run a public awareness campaign on wildfire prevention.

The visit coincided with the autumn wildfire caution period, which runs from this month through Dec. 15. Officials reviewed fire-response systems at relevant agencies and promoted prevention guidelines directly to hikers, encouraging voluntary compliance.

Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung visited the Yeongdeok Fire Station, where he reviewed a location-based mountain rescue system and an AI-powered wildfire response support system.

Officials demonstrated a privately developed location-tracking system that sends a URL to a caller to pinpoint their exact position. Yun confirmed the importance of a science-based rescue framework that overcomes the limitations of conventional cell-tower searches and allows responders to reach those in need more quickly.

He also reviewed a field-command wildfire support system developed in-house by active firefighters, which uses AI and geographic information system technology to combine terrain, weather and satellite data to predict how a fire will spread.

Yun then traveled to Juwangsan National Park in Cheongsong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, to inspect fire readiness and run a public wildfire prevention campaign alongside relevant agencies.

He joined hikers in a "wildfire prevention public participation challenge," completing an image of a green forest using leaf-shaped stickers to encourage voluntary prevention efforts. At trailheads, officials also ran a wildfire prevention campaign, directly informing hikers of specific precautions: no open flames, no smoking or cooking in forested areas, and immediate reporting of any fire spotted by calling 119 or 112.

"Wildfire prevention starts with the small actions of each and every citizen, and I hope today's campaign helps spread awareness and preventive habits into everyday life," Yun said. "The government will concentrate all its capabilities to respond without gaps — from prevention and early suppression to resident evacuation — and do its utmost to protect the lives and safety of the public."


thlee@heraldcorp.com