“Let’s learn about ICT-based wildfire response technology” ... 15 Indonesian officials visit Korea

[Financial News] The Korea Forest Service has invited Indonesian officials responsible for wildfire management and begun sharing an advanced, technology-based system for wildfire prevention, response and recovery.
The Korea Forest Service announced on the 26th that it is running a training program for 15 Indonesian officials responsible for wildfires to share Korea’s comprehensive wildfire response system.
Korea and Indonesia have maintained close ties for more than 40 years since beginning government-to-government forestry cooperation in 1979. In particular, a project to establish a wildfire disaster management center in Indonesia’s South Sumatra Province, which has been underway since 2022, is nearing completion this year. The Korea Forest Service has built infrastructure including a wildfire situation room equipped with information and communications technology (ICT), training facilities and dormitories, and has actively supported efforts to strengthen the capacity of the local wildfire suppression unit, Manggala Agni.
Last April, Korea Forest Service Chief Park Eun-sik and Indonesia’s Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni further strengthened the bilateral cooperation framework by exchanging a “Memorandum of Understanding on Wildfire Management and Restoration of Wildfire-Affected Areas” in Seoul.
The training program was designed to share Korea’s wildfire response strategies, coordination between central and local governments, and expertise in training specialized personnel, and to help build a system tailored to conditions in Indonesia.
The delegation will first visit the Korea Forest Service’s Central Forest Disaster Management Situation Room to review the comprehensive national response system. Over the following seven days, they will visit field agencies in succession, including the Eastern Regional Office of the Korea Forest Service, the Gangwon Province Wildfire Management Center and the Uljin Forest Aviation Management Office, to see firsthand their field-based response capabilities in mobilization and suppression. They will also visit Uljin County and Uiseong County, which have suffered major wildfires in the past, to examine ecological and forest restoration efforts after wildfires.
Ristianto Pribadi, director of international cooperation at Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry, who is taking part in the training, described the situation in Indonesia: “This year, under the influence of El Niño, extremely dry weather has persisted for several months, and more wildfires than usual have occurred.” He added, “It is urgent to introduce a more systematic, advanced response system for wildfire prevention and suppression.”
Korea Forest Service Deputy Chief Im Ha-su said, “Forestry cooperation between the two countries is currently focused on wildfire response.” He added, “Following the wildfire disaster management center in South Sumatra Province, we plan from this year to expand the peatland restoration project in Jambi Province, which was affected by wildfires, and to support the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry’s establishment of a National Wildfire Command Center without disruption.”
Meanwhile, unlike ordinary forest fires, wildfires in Indonesia often spread to peatlands, known as “the planet’s carbon store,” and have long been identified as a global environmental problem. Peatlands are wetlands where branches and plant matter decay and accumulate. When they catch fire, the flames can burn deep underground, making them difficult to extinguish and generating vast quantities of greenhouse gases and fine particulate matter. Analysts say that cooperation with Korea, which has comprehensive land-restoration technologies such as precision monitoring, terrain analysis and water management, could therefore greatly benefit Indonesia beyond the provision of basic firefighting equipment.

[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter