http://travelriskmanagementsolutions.com/evacuations/south-korea-evacuation-planning-advice South korea evacuation planning advice by tony ridley

1. South
Korea
Evacuation
Planning
Advice
South Korea: Evacuation Planning Advice
Introduction
China
Japan
Government Assisted Evacuations
Service Providers
Triggers for Action
General Logistics
Conclusion
Current tensions between North and South Korea is cause for evacuation
planning and revision of existing options for pre-emptive or priority relocation
of company personnel. in this article we discuss some of the key
considerations for evacuations and priority relocations for South Korea.
Specific areas we will examine is China as an evacuation destination, Japan
relocation options, government assisted evacuations, service providers,
triggers for action and general logistics issues. If you currently have personnel
or are located in South Korea you need to read this article. By the end of this
article you will have the beginning of an evacuation strategy or benchmark
considerations for existing plans.
The contents of this article are broad references based on practical
experience and expertise. They do not constitute a personal solution and
should not be actioned as a sole means of planning nor considered a
personal or commercial solution for your particular circumstances. For a more
detailed or specific evaluation or plan, ensure you discuss with an expert or
professional in these areas.
Travel
Risk
Management
Solutions
[Tony
Ridley]
Page 1 of 5

2. South
Korea
Evacuation
Planning
Advice
China
Many will have default or preliminary planning that includes China as a
destination for routine relocations and emergency evacuations. This is not a
very practical solution, often not discovered until the time of need or overly
weighted in the overall plan.
The reason that China is not an effective alternative is due to the limited visa
upon arrival options. This means, unscheduled access to the country is very
limited. Service providers, commercial and charter, will be limited in offering
access to the country without an existing business visa which in itself can take
time and likely to be delayed in the current tensions.
It is recommended that you remove or cease to consider the use of China as
a viable initial or final destination for evacuation planning when considering
South Korea.
Japan
Japan and South Korea have significant transport connections by way of
ferries and flights. It is a well travelled route for many Japanese and Korean
business and leisure travellers on a daily basis but it presents problems for
evacuation and relocation planning considerations.
The use of ferries for international evacuation plans is subject to both
availability and weather conditions, regardless of the advance service
solutions. There are select ports of disembarkation but they are mostly
located in the southern extremities of the South Korea peninsula. This means
there is also a road or air connection consideration if utilising ferries.
Practically, driving for hours to get to a ferry solution that may or may not be
operational/effective presents a major risk of failure for planners.
Key location access to Japan is always in high demand, therefore any spike in
access or demand will result in limited accommodation options and most
certainly an increase in cost. Everyone must always remember in times of
evacuation that many others have the same plans and actions as you,
therefore what seemed like a logical action during the planning phase
becomes a much less viable option when demand peaks or personnel start
moving.
From a practical perspective, Japan will be considered an ally of both South
Korea and the US by North Korea. Therefore it will feature in the military
targeting operations and given its proximity to South Korea would have
collateral impact as a result of direct or indirect targeting. Flights and ferries
would most certainly be affected and short to medium term accommodation
less palatable. Reconsider the use of Japan or remove it for planning
purposes.
Travel
Risk
Management
Solutions
[Tony
Ridley]
Page 2 of 5

3. South
Korea
Evacuation
Planning
Advice
Government Assisted Evacuations
All governments talk about support to their citizens and evacuation planning
options. Few governments are actually very good at this and the overlay of
military operations during such circumstances means that much of the military
resources that would support plans and shortfalls will simply be prioritised
elsewhere.
Government assisted operations feature in many corporate plans. They fail in
many corporate plans because even their own governments recommend a
self-help approach and preemptive planning if organisations are seeking any
degree of certainty or priority treatment. Waiting for the government to provide
access to evacuation and emergency relocation resources is typically a scary,
frustrating, low service standard and unpredictable process. Government
assisted evacuations are best reserved for absolute last options and fallback
considerations in the corporate or commercial context.
Service Providers
South Korea has an active and very comprehensive National Service system.
Many South Korean citizens, especially males, will have completed a period
of military service and will be part of the active reserve and defence of the
country. There is a high probability that many, if not all will be activated in the
event of military preparedness for hostilities. This means that many service
providers, with staff and resources within South Korea will immediately be
affected or no longer be able to offer services. This applies to non-related
services too such as amenities and commercial services.
Charter or non-scheduled aircraft are typically only available during specified
times and dates. They are not on constant call or pre-positioned in
anticipation. This means that unless you have a specific booking,
arrangement or guarantee of an airframe on a specific date, time and location
you should have an expectation of delay or failure in the event of immediate
evacuation or relocation demand.
Scheduled fees and ancillary services will increase. Whatever you initially
considered for your budget or cost of access, will increase with an increased
demand. Be prepared for this or risk another point of failure due to inaccurate
budget planning. Additionally, no amount of financial coercion will compensate
for last minute or bad planning during crisis or emergency evacuations and
many "fair weather" agreements will quickly be dissolved or fail.
Much like insurance plans, there are many policy holders but statistically low
volume of claims. Evacuations and priority relocations at this time or specific
to South Korea will mean that many are seeking to make claims on their
policy or service provisions. All service providers will now have scalability and
service disruption concerns with this spike in demand. With everyone calling
upon the same or limited commercial service options, it will stress the system
Travel
Risk
Management
Solutions
[Tony
Ridley]
Page 3 of 5

4. South
Korea
Evacuation
Planning
Advice
and all but guarantee delays or failure. Think practically and do not expect this
option to be 100% effective or guaranteed.
Ask very specific questions of any/all service providers. Where, when, who
else, how much and likelihood of success are all major start points.
Triggers for Action
Watch for the relocation or evacuation of non-essential staff form the
embassy/ies. Watch for major multinationals evacuating family members and
non essential staff. Not because it is an accurate measure for evacuation and
relocation but it will trigger a psychological necessity for everyone to consider
should I go or why not me too? This means, once this starts, everyone will be
looking to exit too, whether required or not and your plans may be well
underway before you planned or have authorised such actions.
Everyone's risk tolerance and appetite is different. Companies vary also.
Once you approach or exceed a person or company's tolerance to risk or
acceptable parameters, no amount of logic will stop them heading for the
door. Monitor and be prepared for these less tangible triggers as they will be
implemented long before practical concerns or actions are visible.
Now. Every individual and company representative should be reviewing and
monitoring their exposure. All plans should be complete, existing plans
reviewed and pre-determined milestones for circumstances clear to all that
once approach or breached, it is time to go. Preliminary actions should be
underway such as food and water reserves, cash, pet management, children
removed from school or dependents relocated if and when required
General Logistics
Communications will be affected in South Korea at some time. It will be part of
the military solution or the demand will slow or overload the infrastructure.
Plan for alternate and non-technology communication solutions during this
time.
Families, expatriates and travellers have a degree of comfort and routine. Any
evacuation and relocation plan will disrupt this so ensure you include daily
living aspects in your plan such as medicines, what to do with pets, first
national (Korean) dependents, rental agreements, transport, accommodation,
medicines and even education or career.
Remember that everyone else is looking at options and anyone exposed to
the South Korea situation has an opinion or probability to seek to access
similar resources in time of need. Everyone heading to the same location,
same resource or same point of embarkation will result in a major change to
your plans and its effectiveness.
Travel
Risk
Management
Solutions
[Tony
Ridley]
Page 4 of 5

5. South
Korea
Evacuation
Planning
Advice
Conclusion
Current tensions between North and South Korea has triggered evacuation
planning and revision of existing options for pre-emptive or priority relocation
of company personnel. in this article we discussed some of the key
considerations for evacuations and priority relocations for South Korea.
Specifically we will examined China as an evacuation destination, Japan
relocation options, government assisted evacuations, triggers for action and
general logistics issues. If you currently have personnel or are located in
South Korea you need to act upon the content of this article immediately. You
should now have the beginning of an evacuation strategy or benchmark
considerations for existing plans.
Tony Ridley
Travel
Risk
Management
Solutions
[Tony
Ridley]
Page 5 of 5