EVENT TCS to host the first-ever Trilateral Table Top Exercise (TTX) on Disaster Management - 2013.03.14 2013.03.11

1. The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (Secretary-General: Amb. Shin Bong-kil), will host the “Trilateral Table Top Exercise on Disaster Management" on March 14 2013, Thursday, at the TCS Main Conference Room (S-Tower 20th Fl, Seoul, Korea). ※ The opening and lecture sessions(10:00~10:50 a.m.) are open to media. Photography and video taping is acceptable with advance notice. Exercise debrief will be also available upon inquiry. 

2. As the first-ever exercise to be conducted pursuant to the decision of the leaders of the three countries at the 4th Trilateral Summit, the upcoming TTX will bring together disaster management officials from the relevant ministries of the three countries including the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade(MOFAT), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA); Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Cabinet Office of Japan, and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. 

3. During the exercise, the participants will discuss their response to a contingency scenario involving a large-scale earthquake. They will work through a set of questions that were structured in three exercise stages, namely: 1) Initial Domestic Response/Notification 2) Coordination of requests for international assistance 3) Deployment and reception of international assistance. In addition, prior to the exercise, experts from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Seoul National University will give special lectures on regional and global disaster relief practices. 

4. “This year’s exercise is expected to 1) enhance substantive and tangible cooperation among the three countries, 2) establish a cooperation framework for disaster notification and assistance, 3) foster networks among relevant officials of the three countries, and 4) contribute to fostering an amicable environment in the region through close cooperation,” noted Amb. Shin Bong-Kil, Secretary General of the TCS. Furthermore, the Trilateral TTX is expected to be held on an annual basis, laying a solid foundation for the development of a comprehensive and effective framework of cooperation on disaster relief in the Northeast Asian region, he added.