S. Korean emergency workers on regional drill face real-life disaster

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- A regional anti-disaster drill turned into a real-life
operation for a South Korean team of emergency workers and officers when they
provided medical services last week for about 1,500 locals hit by a typhoon in
the Philippines, the Air Force said Monday.
Typhoon Kujira, packing winds of up to 130 kilometers, swept across the
Philippines earlier this month, killing over two dozen people and leaving at
least 54,000 displaced.
South Korea had sent a C-130 transport aircraft with a crew of seven medical
officers and a team of 10 civilian rescue workers to the country that was hosting
a May 4-8 anti-disaster exercise.
"The drill turned into a real-life situation with the arrival of Typhoon Kujira,"
the Air Force said in a release, referring to the Voluntary Demonstration of
Response of Disaster Exercise, the first joint drill by the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF).
The ARF is Asia's largest security forum backed by the 10-member association of
Southeast Asian nations, or ASEAN. The United States, China, Japan and Australia
are also members.
Most of the residents the South Korean team looked after were from Sapang Bato, a
district in the City of Angeles on the island, the Air Force said.
Ten members of the ARF had deployed units for the exercise that focused on
recovery, medical support, rescue and search operations. The U.S. sent 800 rescue
workers and troops, and Japan 80.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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