The Oct. 28 exercise at Gangdong I'Park The River Mall will simulate a combined disaster involving an EV fire and a crowd crush; 20 agencies and organizations will take part, with more than 100 residents joining the evacuation drill.
Gangdong-gu in Seoul will hold its "2026 Disaster Response Safety Korea Drill" on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. at Gangdong I'Park The River Mall (51 Godeokbizvalley-ro), simulating a scenario in which an electric vehicle fire and a crowd crush occur in rapid succession.
This year's drill is set in a weekday daytime scenario: a fire breaks out while an EV is charging in the mall's second basement-level parking garage, spreads rapidly and causes multiple casualties, and then triggers a crowd crush as evacuees surge onto escalators. The River Mall is a large-scale retail complex with a total floor area of 301,337 square meters, six above-ground floors and five below-ground floors, drawing an average of about 500,000 visitors a month.
The district selected the venue to build its capacity to respond to compound disasters that can occur in large-scale commercial facilities.
Twenty agencies and organizations will take part — 12 public institutions, including Gangdong-gu District Office, Gangdong Fire Station, Gangdong Police Station, Gangdong-gu Public Health Center, Army Unit 6019, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Electrical Safety Corporation, Korea Gas Safety Corporation, the Korean Red Cross and Central Veterans Hospital, along with eight private organizations, including The River Mall, KT Corp, Ko-one Energy Service, Gangdong Kyung Hee University Hospital, the volunteer fire brigade, the autonomous disaster prevention corps, safety wardens and a public experience team.
The exercise will be conducted as a comprehensive drill combining tabletop and field components simultaneously. The district will convene a situation assessment meeting, activate a disaster safety response headquarters on the first basement level of the district office, and establish an integrated field support headquarters — including a disaster victim support center — at the scene.
Gangdong Fire Station will operate an emergency rescue control unit, while the Gangdong-gu Public Health Center will run an on-site emergency medical station. Police will handle resident evacuation and scene control, and electricity and gas agencies will work to prevent secondary damage. Once emergency rescue operations wrap up, the drill will transition to victim support, recovery and restoration led by the district office, covering the full response cycle.
This year the exercise moves away from scripted scenarios toward a live-action format. Quantitative targets have been set: situation alerts within 10 minutes and situation assessment meetings within 15 minutes. More than 100 residents will also take part directly in the evacuation drill, playing an active role as participants rather than observers.
In addition, more than 10 types of district-owned equipment will be deployed, the public safety LTE (PS-LTE) disaster communications network will be used at least three times, and the district will request resources from neighboring local governments through the National Disaster Management Resource Integrated Information Center (KRMS) to test its disaster resource mobilization capabilities.
Traffic will be restricted on parts of Godeokbizvalley-ro around 9 a.m. on Oct. 22, when a rehearsal is scheduled, and around 10 a.m. on Oct. 28, when the main drill takes place.
After the exercise, the district will hold an evaluation and improvement meeting to identify gaps in the current response system and revise operational manuals — including the on-site action manual for large-scale retail facilities — to further strengthen cooperation among relevant agencies.
"To prepare for compound disasters like EV fires and crowd crushes that can happen at any time, realistic drills are essential," Gangdong-gu District Mayor Lee Su-hee said. "We will carefully address every shortcoming revealed in this drill and build a safer Gangdong where residents can go about their daily lives with peace of mind."
Gangdong-gu has consistently earned strong marks in disaster preparedness evaluations — receiving the top award in the 2022 Seoul Safety Korea Drill assessment, a prime minister's commendation in the 2023 national disaster response drill, an excellence award in the 2024 Seoul Safety Korea Drill assessment, and another excellence rating in the 2025 Safety Korea Drill — reflecting its track record of systematic drill management and inter-agency cooperation.
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