Busan releases disaster response guide for foreign residents and visitors

Busan city government has released a disaster relief and support guide for foreign nationals to ensure that foreign residents and visitors are not left without assistance during disasters due to language barriers or unfamiliarity with local systems, the city announced Wednesday.

As of November 2024, Busan had 88,542 foreign residents, while the number of foreign visitors reached about 3.64 million as of December 2025. During disasters, however, foreign nationals risk being cut off from critical life-safety support — such as emergency evacuation guidance and first aid — due to language differences.

The guide, the first of its kind produced by the city, was developed in response to calls from the field for a systematic framework to support foreign disaster victims as the number of foreigners living in and visiting Busan continues to grow.

The city established step-by-step response standards to ensure that all disaster victims, regardless of nationality or language, can quickly receive the information they need and access appropriate protection and support.

The guide is organized into four sections following the stages of disaster response: initial response, emergency response, recovery and an appendix. It was drafted on the basis of the Framework Act on Disaster and Safety Management, the Disaster Relief Act, the Act on the Treatment of Foreigners in Korea, the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and related municipal ordinances.

The initial response section covers crisis alert dissemination, foreign national identification and requests for interpretation support, sharing of casualty information involving foreigners, and interpretation procedures for psychological recovery support provided to victims and bereaved families.

The emergency response and recovery sections outline support systems to help foreign disaster victims stabilize their daily lives, covering relief supplies, livelihood support and emergency welfare assistance, as well as compensation procedures under private insurance schemes such as the mandatory civic safety insurance, and aid from relief funds and donations.

The appendix contains emergency contact networks for district offices, relevant agencies, and interpretation and foreign national support organizations to facilitate swift communication and coordination during disasters.

The city plans to distribute the guide to relevant departments, district offices and disaster response agencies for use in field operations, and to incorporate it into future disaster response education and training programs. The city also intends to conduct drills based on scenarios involving foreign casualties, reviewing the collaborative framework to ensure that inter-agency information sharing, interpretation requests, assignment of dedicated civil servants and consular notifications are carried out swiftly.