Augmenting civil defense against nuclear attack

Park Hwee-rhak
The author is a professor at Kookmin University.

After the failed first launch, North Korea will launch another reconnaissance satellite. So, the chaos related to the alert on May 31 should not be repeated. At that time, the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued an alarm three minutes after the launch, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s alarm was issued 12 minutes later. It did not provide specific information on where and how to evacuate — and whether it was an enemy attack or a natural disaster. What would have happened if it had been a nuclear missile attack? People must have suffered a colossal damage from a nuclear explosion without any warning.

North Korea has emphasized its “second mission,” which refers to the communist unification of South Korea, since early last year, after claiming that the country has developed a hydrogen bomb and ICBMs to clear the “nuclear umbrella” of the United States. North Korea revised its operation plan based on nuclear weapons, and changed the law to enable a preemptive nuclear attack. It conducted a large-scale nuclear missile launch drill and even declared a mass production of tactical nukes to attack South Korea. Earlier this year, North Korea even unveiled the results of a simulated warhead explosion and an underwater nuclear drone test.

Even if the Korea-U.S. alliance — and the nuclear umbrella — is strengthened, it is necessary to thoroughly train and prepare for the worst nuclear war situation. When prepared in advance, we can minimize damages in case of a nuclear attack, except for ground zero. When people endure two weeks in the shelter, most of the radioactive fallout can be prevented. That’s why European countries built various nuclear shelters for civil defense during the Cold War.

Recently, Japan also established a civil defense system with the possibility of North Korea’s nuclear and missile attacks in mind. The central and local governments have institutionalized systematic division of roles. They complemented evacuation facilities and educated people on how to evacuate. In Tokyo, following the first evacuation drill in January 2018, an actual warning was issued for evacuation when a North Korean missile flew over in October 2022. When North Korea launched the reconnaissance satellite this time, an evacuation order was issued in Okinawa in just five minutes.

But South Korea — technically still at war with North Korea and directly exposed to its nuclear threat — did not conduct evacuation drills in order “not to make the public anxious or provoke North Korea” — and citing the Covid-19 pandemic. The civil air defense training on May 16 for the first time in six years was also confined to public institutions and schools. It is not civil defense that is disturbing the people. What really makes citizens anxious is the country’s insensitivity to the need for proper evacuation drills and the absence of plans to protect the people.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety in charge of civil defense drills must establish an inspection team of experts to accurately assess our preparedness. Most of all, the outdated civil defense system focusing on air strikes should be revised. The focus of civil defense drill must shift to the evacuation exercise to prepare for a nuclear missile provocation in line with changes of North Korean provocations. The exercise system must be drastically revised.

It is necessary to set up an effective cooperation system with local governments to establish a people-oriented civil defense system. The 17,000 shelters across the country should be complemented to block nuclear radiation — and shelters must be built when large buildings are constructed.

It is also necessary for the military and the government to closely cooperate so that a prompt warning can be issued immediately after North Korea launched a missile. It is necessary to reorganize the automatic alarm system through broadcasting, mobile phone text messages, siren and other methods, not to mention the standard messages which include what, where, when, why, who and how to evacuate.

Individual citizens also must prepare for how to protect themselves and their families in the event of a nuclear explosion. It is good to know that the intensity of radiation decreases by tenfold for every sevenfold increase in time after detonation. It is also useful to remember that radiation can be blocked if concrete is thicker than 30 centimeters (about a feet), brick walls 40 centimeters, and soil walls 90 centimeters. People must identify the shelter location for themselves and families and think about the list of essential items to take in case of an emergency. The government must produce and distribute fliers containing public action tips in advance.

These preparations must be checked and supplemented with regular civil defense trainings. It is important to properly conduct the annual eight training sessions as stipulated in the law. The government must establish civil defense education centers for anyone to experience.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.