{"id":74464,"date":"2025-08-01T10:13:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=74464"},"modified":"2025-08-01T10:13:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T17:13:50","slug":"facing-earthquakes-and-extremes-asia-pacific-deepens-disaster-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=74464","title":{"rendered":"Facing Earthquakes and Extremes, Asia-Pacific Deepens Disaster Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Issued by the APEC Emergency Preparedness Working Group<\/em><\/p>\n

Incheon, Republic of Korea, 1 August 2025<\/em>A powerful earthquake off the coast of Kamchatka jolted the Asia-Pacific just hours before emergency officials from APEC economies convened in Incheon for the\u00a021st\u00a0meeting of the APEC Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG<\/a>),\u00a0a timely reminder of how disasters can ripple across the region without warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisasters know no borders, and they affect not only local communities but have long-term consequences for entire economies,\u201d said\u00a0Kim Gwang-yong, Vice Minister of Korea\u2019s\u00a0Ministry of the Interior and Safety, in his welcome address. \u201cCooperation and solidarity among APEC economies are more important than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice Minister Kim highlighted Korea\u2019s recent experiences with typhoons, heavy rainfall and wildfires, noting that the country has continuously improved its disaster management systems.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized Korea\u2019s commitment to sharing these best practices with fellow APEC economies and expanding cooperation in\u00a0ICT-based early warning systems, disaster prediction models using\u00a0artificial intelligence (AI), and community-centered\u00a0disaster resilience strategies.<\/p>\n

The meeting\u2019s agenda covered\u00a0digital-based disaster risk management strategies,\u00a0community leadership in disaster response and\u00a0strengthening multi-layered governance.<\/p>\n

Experts and officials discussed enhancing early warning systems, leveraging big data and satellite technologies and developing\u00a0resilient infrastructure that can support disaster-affected communities.<\/p>\n

Sessions also focused on advancing\u00a0collaborative governance, bridging gaps in disaster risk management, and preparing communities for emerging\u00a0risks.<\/p>\n

EPWG co-chair\u00a0Dayra Carvajal\u00a0of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, urged members to recognize the compounding risks affecting the region\u2019s interconnected\u00a0systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom devastating earthquakes to wildfires and catastrophic flooding, this year has once again underscored the interconnected impacts of disasters in Asia-Pacific,\u201d she said. \u201cThese compounding stressors that ripple through shared infrastructure remind us that events in one economy are frequently felt elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we must\u00a0endeavor\u00a0to identify concrete and practical ways in which to strengthen the systems that sustain regional economic growth and prosperity: our infrastructure, markets\u00a0and supply chains.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agenda featured project updates and best practice exchanges\u00a0by member economies including on topics such as disaster risk prediction and whole-community preparedness in urban, coastal and inland areas.\u00a0Delegates\u00a0examined how to bridge gaps in early warning systems, scale agile and adaptable governance across central and local levels and enable technology-driven disaster leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we prepare, the more we can reduce disaster damage. And the more we cooperate, the stronger our response can become,\u201d Vice Minister Kim concluded.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the group emphasized that continued collaboration under the newly launched EPWG Strategic Plan 2025\u20132027\u00a0will be essential to turn this momentum into durable systems of protection and preparedness.<\/p>\n

The EPWG meeting is a key platform for promoting\u00a0APEC\u2019s vision\u00a0of a\u00a0resilient and prosperous future, with discussions expected to result in actionable policies and collaborative projects that can mitigate disaster risks, enhance regional preparedness\u00a0and protect the lives and livelihoods of the\u00a02.9 billion people who call the APEC region home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Issued by the APEC Emergency Preparedness...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74464"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74465,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74464\/revisions\/74465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}