Close cooperation of Korea and the US since 1997 continues this year through online seminar
Discuss countermeasures for climate change-triggered geohazards and introduce the Korean New Deal Initiative
ARoad experts and relevant government officials from Korea and the US put their heads together in an online seminar to improve safety of road infrastructure, especially with regard to geologic hazards such as landslides affected by climate change.
AOn November 5, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT, Minister: KIM Hyun-mee) of the Republic of Korea held an online seminar with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Colorado Department of Transportation (Colorado DOT) of the United States of America where road experts of both countries discussed climate change response in the road sector, such as landslide management.
ALandslide warning systems for roads, as well as other measures being developed under Korea’s Social Overhead Capital (SOC) digitalization policy, which is part of the Korean New Deal Initiative, were introduced during the webinar where participants sought ways to bring about mutually beneficial growth to both Korea and the US.
ADespite regular check-ups and maintenance on road slopes, landslide incidents are happening more often due to the recent unusual weather events such as an extremely long monsoon season, series of typhoons, and atypical precipitation patterns, which calls for proactive measures.
AConsidering such challenges imposed by climate change, MOLIT, along with Korean experts from the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) and Korea Expressway Corporation Research Institute (KECRI), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) joined by the road experts of the US, actively participated in the webinar by sharing each country’s knowledge and research outcomes on geohazards and climate resilience.
AThe seminar mainly covered the topics of “geohazards”, such as landslides, and “climate change”. Under these topics, the Korean side introduced a real-time landslide monitoring system powered by IoT technologies*, which is one of Korea’s SOC digitalization projects.
* Landslide monitoring technologies: acceleration sensor (MEMS), GPS satellite technology, optical fiber sensor, drone, acoustic emission, infrared thermal sensor, soil moisture content sensor, LiDar, etc.
AThe US side gave presentations on the link between climate change and geohazards, performance analysis on geohazard management, and more.
AMr. Sooyoung OH, Director of Road Management Division of MOLIT, said, “The impact of climate change is not limited to Korea; it is indeed a global issue. So, we plan to work with the US and other countries around the world in research and discussion to build proactive response systems for climate resilience in the field of road management.”