By Tom Easter
June 23, 2003

Mayor Daeheon Hwang of Dalseogu, Korea, President of the National Association of Mayors in Korea (NAMK), addressed U.S. and international mayors during the June 6th Opening Plenary Session of the 2nd Annual International Conference of Mayors.

Hwang discussed two major themes: 1) the reestablishment of local autonomy in South Korea and 2) the importance of safety and security in cities.

Local autonomy in South Korea was reestablished in the early 1990's after a 30-year suspension, which had resulted from "domestic administrative circumstances". Floor elections for local assemblies began in 1991, with direct elections for mayors and governors starting in 1995.

As the representative of the National Association of Mayors, a national council of 232 local governments in South Korea, Hwang expressed his views on what is required to move toward "The Attainment of Sustainable Urban Development," citing the need for "City Safety." He noted that cities can attain safety and security by measures that protect against terrorism and those that prepare cities for natural disasters, freak accidents, industrial catastrophes, problems of economic development, and contamination and pollution of our natural ecosystems.

Hwang discussed how technology can be a big part of the effort to protect our cities by installing "high-tech safety devices and disaster information systems" to be used in conjunction with one another to reinforce facility defenses and protect structures that are most vulnerable.

He also stressed the need to increase public involvement by promoting "protective measures through mass media to raise public awareness of the importance of safety for all persons, and to teach them how to protect themselves against disaster, as well as how to recover from it."

As mayor of Dalseogu, Hwang has implemented a new "countermeasure system" to investigate general dangerous elements in the region and has developed plans to take action in case of emergency. He also emphasized the need to "install a general disaster prevention system covering the entire city, based on simulations that will enable actual applications for urgent response, such as a command system, an emergency life saving system, a centralized way to gain citizens' cooperation, and various information and support systems under the umbrella of the central emergency disaster control system."

The mayor closed by saying, "No city today is exempt from the importance of safety issues. Important disaster prevention and safety measures include building a disaster information program that gauges and analyzes the frequency and cause of problems for each nation and city." This information would form the basis of a shared international disaster information database, which would utilize long-term local safety programs and campaigns for domestic, traffic safety and emergency rescue programs. "It would be a compilation of experience on various catastrophes and contain information from countries all over the world," Hwang emphasized.