Koreans share reaction to false air raid alarm online

Social Affairs

Published: 01 Jun. 2023, 09:55 Updated: 01 Jun. 2023, 10:28

Koreans share reaction to false air raid alarm online

Posts on social media show disaster supplies packed under a false air raid alarm. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Koreans are sharing their reactions to the false air raid alarm in Seoul that left them puzzled on an early Wednesday morning on social media.

"I was just about to run downstairs with my family after hearing the emergency announcement when I got the evacuation text and stuffed [disaster supplies] into a traveling bag," one post uploaded on social media around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday read.

Other posts included pictures of impromptu survival kits packed with canned tuna, water bottles, butane gas canisters and ramyeon.

A minute-long air raid siren alarmed the metropolitan city at 6:32 a.m. Wednesday, advising residents to seek shelter. But nine minutes later, another message sent via the emergency communication system said the earlier warning was "sent in error."

The Ministry of Interior and Safety sent a public announcement text message at 7:25 a.m. explaining that an earlier warning was issued due to North Korea's missile launch and that the warning has been lifted.

A post on an online community shows a diaster supply kit packed during a false air raid alarm. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Internet communities became an onset for a follow-up debate, with people arguing that a false alarm is better than a no-alarm against those who claim that false alarms hurt the government's credibility.

"Security issues ought to assume a worst-case scenario; a second-guessing criticism does no good," one user on Everytime, an anonymous online community for university students, said.

"False alarms can numb people's sense of security," another user responded. "Disaster alarm systems need a repair."

North Korea launched a projectile which it claimed was a space launch vehicle, southward from North Pyongan Province at 6:29 a.m.

The rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea after losing propulsion due to abnormalities in a secondary engine ignition process, North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

The state media said North Korea will "conduct a second launch as soon as possible."

BY LEE SU-MIN,SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]