South Korea to overhaul emergency alert system after fiasco: Report
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This comes after a text message sent to Seoul residents – in response to a North Korean satellite launch – was criticised as being unhelpful.
PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL - The South Korean government will overhaul the country’s emergency alert system, news agency Yonhap reported on Thursday, after an erroneous message tied to North Korea’s satellite launch this week
The Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Interior Ministry and the Seoul metropolitan government will discuss improvements, the report said, citing a senior government official.
The warning system will be updated to provide information such as “who, when, where, what, how and why” so as to allow a calm response from the public, a presidential official was quoted as saying.
The text message sent to Seoul residents on Wednesday morning
In another alert soon after, the Safety Ministry said the previous one had been an error.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon apologised for confusion over the city’s alerts but defended the decision to send one as a precaution, citing public safety. REUTERS
