Seoul's Jung-gu district held a joint counter-terrorism exercise Wednesday at Hana Financial Group's Myeong-dong headquarters as part of the 2026 Ulchi CPX.
More than 770 personnel from eight agencies — spanning the military, police, fire department and public health services — took part, running through a complex crisis scenario involving fire, casualties, the threat of secondary explosions and a power outage, and testing coordination from initial response through recovery.
Participating organizations included the Jung-gu District Office, the 2nd Battalion of Army Unit 3537, the Namdaemun and Jungbu police stations, Jungbu Fire Station, the Jung-gu Public Health Center, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Hana Bank. Myeong-dong — a dense commercial and business district with heavy foot traffic from foreign tourists — was chosen as the venue to replicate a compound terrorist attack in an urban setting.
The drill began with two suspicious individuals infiltrating the Hana Financial Group building before a fire broke out. Each agency moved swiftly according to its assigned role. Police secured the scene, analyzed CCTV footage to track the suspects' movements and moved in to apprehend them. Military units searched inside and outside the building and reinforced the outer perimeter, while an Explosive Hazard Clearance Team detected and neutralized a suspicious object found in the building to prevent further danger.
Firefighters handled fire suppression and rescue operations, while the public health center coordinated emergency treatment and patient transport. When the explosion cut power to key areas of the building, Korea Electric Power Corporation dispatched crews to the scene for emergency restoration. Jung-gu activated its integrated disaster support center to share real-time situational updates and coordinate recovery efforts.
The drill focused on how quickly and seamlessly the military, police, fire, public health, local government and private facility operators could synchronize their responses. Following roughly 40 minutes of exercises, participants gathered for a debrief to review on-scene performance and inter-agency coordination.
Given the district's concentration of large commercial, business and tourism facilities, Jung-gu conducts annual joint drills simulating terrorist attacks and disaster scenarios that could occur in an urban environment. The district plans to strengthen its response capabilities through continued training so that it can rapidly coordinate with partner agencies in any crisis.
"In a crisis, what matters most is that each agency carries out its role precisely and connects with the others without any gaps," Jung-gu District Mayor Kim Gil-sung said. "We will keep conducting realistic drills to build an even more solid integrated defense posture capable of responding swiftly to any emergency."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
