S Korea to hold nationwide civil defence drill in wake of North’s provocations

Seoul [South Korea], August 4 : South Korea will conduct its first statewide civil defence exercise in six years later this month as tensions with North Korea soar, CNN reported.
During the 20-minute exercise, the majority of the country's 51 million citizens will be required to practice evacuating to bunkers or underground safe areas.
According to a statement from the South Korean Interior Ministry, the drill, which is set to begin at 2 pm on Wednesday, August 23, would force many drivers to pull over to the side of the road and the closure of subway station exits with commuters required to stay inside, as per CNN.
“We expect to strengthen the response capacity of the nation through a practical drill reflecting the aspects of provocations of North Korea,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in a news release this week.
The release also said that the 20-minute drill is part of a larger exercise to test the South Korean government’s response to potential threats which also include “advanced nuclear missile threats, cyber-attacks, drone terrors, etc.”
The South Korean people were also urged by the prime minister to treat the drills seriously, which hasn't always been the case.
Many South Koreans have come to terms with the fact that most of the population would only have a few minutes to react to any potential missile or airstrike from North Korea, reported CNN.
For instance, Seoul, the nation's capital, is only 30 miles from the demilitarised zone that divides the South from the North, which keeps a sizable artillery force along its border.
Han, however, urged people to "follow the lead of the nation during the exercise and actively participate in it."
According to instructions from the Interior Ministry, 17,000 shelters would be available statewide, and popular Korean apps allow users to search for their locations.
The ministry stated that the emergency drill would not affect hospitals, aeroplanes, trains, subways, or commercial sea traffic in order to minimise disruption to essential services.
Additionally, it stated that the drill would not take place in the 13 areas of the nation designated as disaster zones as a result of recent heavy rains.
Although tense relations with the North have often been experienced by South Koreans, the current state of affairs is particularly tense.
The latest development in North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile programme, which has been testing at a breakneck rate for the past two years under leader Kim Jong Un, was the launch last month of a missile with the longest flight time ever.
The launch of the Hwasong-18 missile was conducted “at a grave period when the military security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region has reached the phase of nuclear crisis beyond the Cold War,” reported CNN citing a statement in North Korean state media.
Hwasong-18 missile launch was carried out "at a grave period when the military security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region has reached the phase of nuclear crisis beyond the Cold War," according to a statement in North Korean state media.
Later in July, a US Navy ballistic missile submarine with nuclear capability docked in the port of Busan, South Korea, drawing further threats from Pyongyang. North Korean Defence Minister Kang Sun Nam claimed that the vessel's presence might meet the nation's requirements for using nuclear weapons, CNN reported.