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Busan Metropolitan City Establishes Operational Guide to Build a Support System for Foreign Nationals and Other Disaster Victims

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that it has distributed the Guide to Disaster Relief and Support Services for Foreign Nationals and Others, hereinafter referred to as the guide, to ensure that foreign residents and visitors are not excluded from relief and assistance due to language barriers or differences in administrative systems when disasters occur.

The guide was prepared to provide prompt and equitable relief services to foreign nationals and other disaster victims at disaster sites and to enable personnel from Busan Metropolitan City, districts and counties, and disaster response agencies to perform their duties according to consistent standards.

The guide is the first initiative of its kind undertaken by Busan Metropolitan City. It reflects growing calls from frontline personnel for systematic support standards for foreign disaster victims in the event of a major disaster, as the number of foreign nationals visiting or residing in the city continues to increase.

As of November 2024, Busan had 88,542 foreign residents. The number of foreign visitors reached 3,643,439 as of December 2025, demonstrating a continued increase in both foreign residents and visitors.

However, when disasters occur, language and other differences may prevent foreign nationals from receiving essential information directly related to life and safety, including emergency evacuation instructions and emergency relief information, placing them at risk of being excluded from assistance.

Accordingly, the city established step-by-step response standards to ensure that all disaster victims, regardless of nationality or language, can quickly receive necessary information and obtain appropriate protection and assistance.

The guide consists of four sections organized by phase of disaster response: initial response, emergency response, recovery and restoration, and appendices. It was developed based on the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety, the Disaster Relief Act, the Framework Act on Treatment of Foreigners Residing in the Republic of Korea, the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and relevant municipal ordinances.

The initial response section covers the dissemination of crisis alerts, identification of foreign nationals, requests for interpretation support, information sharing regarding foreign and other casualties, and interpretation procedures for providing psychological recovery assistance to victims and bereaved families.

The emergency response and recovery and restoration sections outline assistance programs designed to help victims quickly regain stability in their daily lives. These include relief supplies for displaced foreign nationals and others, livelihood stabilization assistance, emergency welfare assistance, compensation procedures under private insurance programs such as citizen safety insurance and mandatory insurance, and support through disaster relief contributions and donations.

The appendices also contain emergency contact networks for the city, districts and counties, relevant organizations, interpretation service providers, and organizations supporting foreign nationals to facilitate prompt communication and cooperation during disasters.

Busan Metropolitan City will distribute the guide to relevant city departments, districts and counties, and disaster response organizations for use in field operations. The city also plans to incorporate it into future disaster response education and training programs.

In particular, the city will continue to review and strengthen its interagency cooperation system by conducting exercises based on actual disaster scenarios involving foreign casualties. These exercises will help ensure that information sharing, interpretation requests, assignment of dedicated public officials, and notification of consular authorities can be carried out promptly.

Lee Byung-seok, Assistant Mayor of the Citizen Safety Office, said, “No one should be excluded from rescue, relief, or disaster assistance because of their nationality or the language they speak during a disaster.”

He added, “We expect this guide to provide foreign disaster victims with prompt and accurate assistance while offering practical support to frontline personnel so they can respond without confusion.”