Dedicated facility and in-house simulation program aim to sharpen border security expertise
The Korea Customs Border Human Resources Development Institute announced Monday that it is strengthening its X-ray screening training system to block the smuggling of narcotics, firearms and other dangerous contraband and bolster national security.
The institute serves as a dedicated training arm of the Korea Customs Service, providing job training for more than 6,000 customs civil servants. The World Customs Organization has also designated it as the Asia-Pacific Regional Training Centre and the Asia-Pacific Regional Dog Training Centre, through which it shares customs administration expertise and detector-dog training techniques with foreign customs officials.
As drug smuggling and attempts to bring firearms into the country have grown increasingly sophisticated, X-ray screening proficiency on the front lines of border control is considered a core capability for protecting national security and public safety. Detecting narcotics, firearms and illicit foreign currency outflows that are difficult to spot with the naked eye is where X-ray screening proves most effective and critical.
In response, the institute has expanded its training infrastructure since 2025 to develop field experts in practical X-ray screening. It has built dedicated screening classrooms and state-of-the-art practice facilities, and developed an in-house computer simulation program — the Computer Based Training Program, or CBT — that allows trainees to practice in an environment closely replicating real X-ray screening conditions.
The CBT displays actual X-ray images on a computer monitor and requires learners to determine whether contraband is concealed within them. The program currently holds a database of 6,640 sets of image data.
Trainees have praised the program for providing an immersive experience indistinguishable from real fieldwork. Building on that success, the institute conducted 10 rounds of outreach training sessions at customs offices nationwide — including those at Incheon Airport and in Seoul, Busan, Daegu and Gwangju — in March and April, significantly raising screening proficiency among frontline customs staff.
Demand for the institute's X-ray screening education has grown beyond the Korea Customs Service itself, expanding to a pan-government level. Agencies including the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea Post and military units — all involved in border management and security operations — have enrolled in the institute's courses. The trend underscores the institute's standing as the de facto national standard-setter for X-ray screening education in South Korea.
Looking ahead, the institute plans to pursue a medium- to long-term strategy to cement its position as the center of X-ray screening education in the country.
It intends to establish a dedicated X-ray Screening Training Center within its organizational structure to deepen educational expertise and strengthen research into screening techniques. The institute also plans to actively support the Korea Customs and Trade Development Institute's push to create a new X-ray screening certification regime, which would objectively verify the competence of screening personnel and help standardize security capabilities across the country.
"Educational innovation is essential to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated illegal customs attempts," institute director Yu Seon-hui said. "We will do our utmost to develop field experts who can take full responsibility for border safety through systematic screening education and infrastructure expansion."
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
