2026 Urban Resilience Exercises to boost whole-of-society defense preparedness

At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Cho Jung-tai received a Ministry of National Defense report on the 2026 Urban Resilience (All-Out Defense Mobilization) Exercises, which will take place in counties and cities nationwide from April through August. The premier said the exercises are intended to bolster whole-of-society defense resilience in the face of disasters and emergencies, adding that recent developments-from the Russia-Ukraine war to conflicts in the Middle East-have heightened awareness among countries around the world of the need for preparedness and resilience.

Premier Cho highlighted the three key focuses of this year's Urban Resilience Exercises. The first focus is to further increase the proportion of conflict-based scenarios, helping the public better understand how military and civilian efforts are coordinated. The exercises will emphasize preventive evacuations, mass casualty management, the establishment of emergency medical care areas, traffic management and psychological resilience, with the aim of protecting lives and maintaining normal societal functioning.

The second focus is to further strengthen exercise intensity. This entails conducting practical drills under realistic conditions-covering personnel, equipment, locations and scenarios-as well as incorporating, for the first time, cross-county and city collaboration to enhance the intensity and realism of the exercises.

The third focus is to continue expanding public participation-which involves conducting drills on setting up first-aid stations, relief centers and rationing stations-in order to assess the effectiveness of medical response, shelter operations and supply distribution. These efforts will ensure that the nation's all-out national defense capabilities are firmly established at the community level.

Premier Cho directed all ministries, agencies and local authorities to work more closely together to enhance central-local government coordination in developing defense resilience. Such cooperation is essential for enabling rapid and effective responses to emergencies, disasters or extreme scenarios, and for building a resilient national defense system.