Chemical Attack Drills

[Anchor Lead]

Amid rising nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, an exercise was held in Seoul on Wednesday simulating a North Korean chemical attack on the Seoul World Cup Stadium. The drill focused on delivering emergency aid for patients and decontamination of polluted areas.

[Pkg]

In a hypothetical situation of a North Korea chemical weapon dropped near the Seoul World Cup Station...chemicals from dummy rounds of ammo spread in no time, and citizens and soldiers collapse. A decontamination unit of the Capital Defense Command is dispatched to the scene to transport patients who have passed out. Firefighters from nearby stations also arrive on the scene to quell the fire. Decontamination officers remove chemical substances off the patients. Clothes and equipment exposed to the chemicals are separately handled and the patients' bodies are also washed using a special shower device. Lastly, a chemical detector is used to inspect for any remaining residue from the chemicals. The latest exercise mobilized some 300 personnel from six organizations including the Capital Defense Command and Seoul's Mapo-gu district office. The joint government, military and civic drill sought to examine their combined defense posture.

[Soundbite] Lt. Col. Lee Jae-cheol(Capital Defense Command) : "It was a valuable experience of conducting combined operations between the military, police, firefighting forces and the civic sector aimed at concluding operations on the field within the golden time window."

The drill is called the Hwarang Exercise and is held every other year to boost the combined capabilities of the government, military and civic sectors against terrorism and enemy provocations that may take place in the downtown areas of a city. This year's exercise particularly focused on responding to nuclear as well as chemical, biological, and radiological threats posed by North Korea.