EMERGENCY EVACUATION PLAN CANADIAN EMBASSY SEOUL, KOREA Revised: 2002-02-06 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction 3 Who is Eligible for Evacuation Assistance? 4 Your Role in an Evacuation 5 The Four Steps in an Evacuation 6 Registration and the Warden Network 9 Your Special Concerns 10 Appendices A. Your Emergency Kit : A Checklist 11 (Food, drink, essential clothing and supplies) B. Bring your money and Important Documents 12 IMPORTANT NAMES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS 1. My Warden is ____________________ , Telephone No. ____________________ . 2. My Deputy-Warden is ____________________ , Telephone No. ______________. 3. The Canadian Embassy is at (02)3455-6000; Consular Section at 3455-6121. 4. The Emergency Operations Centre, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa is at (613) 944-6788 (Travel Service) & (613) 996-8885 (Watch Office). Introduction ** This booklet is meant to acquaint Canadian Citizens in the Republic of Korea, with the Consular Emergency Contingency Plan developed by the Canadian Embassy. This Plan, for use by Canadians, will be activated in the event of a military emergency or natural disaster. ** This plan has a single objective: to help you depart from an area of possible danger, i.e. from within the Korean peninsula to points outside, or from a specific area within Korea to another point within Korea. While Canadians should assume responsibility for their own evacuation in the first instance, should that prove difficult, this plan calls for evacuation resources to be arranged by the Canadian Embassy. The plan places responsibility on Canadian citizens to take an active role in preparing for their evacuation. ** The chance that an evacuation might be necessary is rather remote. Still, as elsewhere in today's world, you should be ever alert to changing circumstances. Should you at any time feel uncomfortable or insecure as the result of a personal assessment of the worsening level of conditions, any decision to depart will be your personal responsibility. ** You are encouraged to observe current events by monitoring media news reports and analysis. The Canadian Embassy conducts ongoing assessments of all matters of concern taking place on the Korean Peninsula. It provides regular security threat assessments to visiting and resident Canadians through public issuance of Travel Information and Advisory Reports, available from the Embassy directly, or via the internet. Embassy consular staff are available to provide guidance at all times. ** If circumstances should change too rapidly for you to be able to leave on your own using commercial transport, this publication will help you to prepare and effect your evacuation to an area of safe haven. Who is Eligible for Evacuation Assistance? A person is eligible for Canadian Embassy evacuation assistance if he or she meets one of the following conditions: 1. The Person holds Canadian citizenship ** Bring your Canadian passport, Canadian birth certificate or Canadian citizenship certificate or card. Note: Documentation such as a provincial driver's license, a health card, a Social Insurance Card, or other types of identification issued by various Canadian federal, provincial, or municipal authorities, is not evidence or proof of Canadian citizenship. 2. The Person is the non-Canadian spouse or child of a Canadian citizen ** If you are not in company with your Canadian spouse, or the parent who holds Canadian citizenship, bring your original marriage or full birth certificate, as applicable, and make sure that the document clearly indicates your spouse's, parent's or child's Canadian citizenship. 3. The Person is a Returning resident (i.e. foreign national granted permanent residence in Canada and who qualifies for Returning Resident status), his or her spouse and dependent children. ** You must present documentary evidence, such as a Canadian Immigration visa (i.e. form-IMM 1000 : "landed immigrants") that confirms that Canadian permanent resident status has been granted. Your Role in an Evacuation ** You have definite responsibilities in a Canadian Embassy assisted evacuation. While the prospect of an evacuation from Korea is very remote, you should understand clearly how the Consular Emergency Contingency Plan works and what would be expected of you, if you should wish to participate in it. ** You will be advised where the nearest assembly points are located, and how to get to them through instructions broadcast on local media channels. The Canadian Embassy cannot provide you with initial transport to your designated assembly point. You must proceed to such points, on your own, by whatever means are available at the time. ** If you decide to join a Canadian Embassy assisted evacuation, you must understand clearly, and follow precisely, the instructions included in this publication. You must agree to comply with those conditions that the Canadian diplomatic or military authorities might need to impose. ** The Canadian Embassy will do its utmost to establish and maintain contact with you by means of its Warden Communications Network. You must monitor closely, the evacuation information and instructions that will also be communicated to you through the local media, in particular AFKN (American Forces Korea Network) radio and television, as well as by means of the international broadcasts of Radio Canada International, the BBC World Service, the Voice of America, the Australian Broadcasting System, or local Korean radio and television. * Canadian authorities will work to move you away from danger once you report to your designated assembly point (as described above). However, they will only be able to address your most basic needs for shelter, transportation and security. Your assisted evacuation may be carried out by Canadian military transport aircraft or by chartered commercial aircraft, or by ship, to a nearby country of safe haven. Travel and shelter conditions may be severely limited, as will luggage capacity. The Four Steps of an Evacuation 1. Stand Fast ** In an emergency, when the situation could be dangerous or out of control, the best strategy is often to stand fast in the relative safety of home until conditions are more conducive to safe or protected travel. Under no circumstances should Canadian citizens attempt to reach an assembly or evacuation area until they have heard through official channels (either through the Embassy directly, or through the warden network) that they should do so. 2. Your Assembly ** If and when the Canadian government, in consultation with the Canadian Embassy and its possible evacuation partners (the governments of the United States, Britain and Australia), feels that an evacuation from Korea is warranted, necessary information, direction and instructions will be conveyed to you by various means of communication. First, establish and maintain close contact with your consular warden and / or deputy-warden. At the same time, monitor closely and listen for Embassy instruction messages broadcast by AFKN (American Forces Korea Network) radio and television (Appendix C). Also, if you have a short wave radio receiver, tune in, and listen for information and direction, broadcast over the international broadcast facilities of Radio-Canada International, the Voice of America, the BBC World Service or the Australian Broadcasting System. Note that it may not be possible for you to rapidly establish direct telephone contact with the Canadian Embassy because telephone circuits are nearly always congested in times of crisis as a result of severe overuse. ** When you receive an evacuation call from your warden, deputy-warden or by means of a message broadcast over radio or television, you should : Collect your family members, along with your emergency kit of food and water rations, supplies and all indispensable documents (refer to appendices A and B) and proceed immediately to the nearest designated assembly point. ** Note that should circumstances permit USFK (United States Forces Korea) assistance to Canadian nationals, at and prior to entry to any American assembly point (i.e. a military facility), you will be asked to establish your eligibility for evacuation by producing identification (refer to page 2, item i, ii and iii) that clearly confirms (1), your Canadian citizenship, (2) your family relationship to a Canadian citizen (i.e. spouse or child), or (3) bona fides as a "Returning Resident." ** Upon admittance to an American assembly point you will be required to complete a registration form providing essential particulars about you and your family for entry into the evacuation movement data processing system. The form may be one provided by the American military, or one supplied by a Canadian Embassy consular official, possibly depending on the location of the validation of your evacuation. Upon completion and acceptance of the form, you will be moved to a staging area for assignment of transportation. ** The Embassy must stress that although a "global agreement" does exist between the Canadian and U.S. governments to assist one another in times of crisis, there is no specific agreement pertaining to Korea. The understanding is that USFK (United States Forces Korea) and U.S. Embassy personnel will take care of U.S. nationals first, and nationals of other countries with which they have "global agreements", second, should their resources permit this. Should Canadian nationals proceed to an American military facility for assistance at the time of a crisis, they must exercise patience, and be prepared to wait until American citizens have been dealt with. It is this fact that should encourage all Canadians in Korea to react early to deteriorating political, military or other situations on the peninsula, and arrange for their own and their dependents early departure via commercial transport. 3. Your Relocation ** Upon arrival at assembly points, most evacuees can expect to be relocated to evacuation points further south in Korea from where evacuation from the peninsula will be effected to a nearby country of safe haven. Your relocation from assembly to evacuation point will be carried out by various modes of available transport which may include military vehicles and / or buses and private motor vehicles or trains. ** You may well have to rely on the provisions and supplies you have carried in your Emergency Kit (refer to appendix A) and accept any inconvenience and discomfort in return for your safe relocation and evacuation from the peninsula. Movement control personnel at the assembly and evacuation points will attempt to provide you with food rations, a place to rest and medical services, but conditions may be harsh and services extremely limited. 4. Your Evacuation ** Following your arrival at an evacuation assembly point and completion of necessary documentation carried out by a Canadian (or American in the above circumstances) consular officer you will be positioned by movement control personnel for assignment to an evacuation vehicle (i.e. this could be pooled Canadian, American or British military transport aircraft or ship, or chartered commercial craft) for departure to a nearby country of safe haven, where you will be met by Canadian consular officers, possibly assisted by Canadian military movement specialists. They will assist you to arrange your onward transportation back to Canada. ** In accordance with accepted international practice and Canadian government policy, all financial assistance rendered to evacuees by the Canadian government is cost recoverable. Consequently, all costs associated with your evacuation / repatriation from the Republic of Korea will be at your expense. Arrangements will be made for you to reimburse the Canadian government after you have arrived safely back in Canada. Your evacuation transportation charges will not exceed the equivalent commercial fare for a comparable journey. ** At some point during the evacuation operation, when and where circumstances permit, you will be required to complete and sign an Application for Financial Assistance and a Promise to Repay, manifesting your indebtedness to the Government of Canada for expenses incurred by it in effecting your evacuation. Registration and the Warden Network ** An up-to-date computerized register of Canadians resident in the Republic of Korea is absolutely vital to the consular emergency contingency planning process. A plan cannot be implemented successfully without the Canadian Embassy possessing a complete knowledge of the size and location of the resident Canadian community. ** The primary purpose of your registration is to enable the Embassy to communicate with you and all other registered Canadians in a local emergency, in order to ascertain your well being, and to provide you with consular assistance, as required. ** Your registration is not mandatory and constitutes a voluntary act on your part. All resident Canadians, including those in possession of dual citizenship are invited to register with the Embassy. All information that you provide is subject to provisions of the Privacy Act and may be divulged to third parties only under the conditions stated either on the back of the card, or on the Embassy's website. ** By virtue of being registered, you and your family are included in the Embassy's Warden Network, operational throughout Korea. Its function and purpose is to facilitate and expedite the communication of information and guidance between the Embassy and each registered resident Canadian, in the event of a local emergency. Under the Warden Network, each registered Canadian family is assigned to a Warden District for which a warden and in some cases, a deputy-warden have been recruited. If you have registered with the Embassy, your name, address, telephone number and the number of your family members will have been given to your warden and deputy-warden, in confidence, to enable them to communicate with you. Your Special Concerns Children in School ** Most schools attended by foreign students will suspend classes in times of growing crisis, however, there is a slight possibility that evacuation might be ordered while children are in school. Each school has its own procedures, and parents should be aware of what arrangements have been made for emergencies. Personal Vehicles ** Your personal motor vehicle may be needed during an evacuation. You may be permitted to drive it from an assembly point to an evacuation point as part of a military escorted convoy. However, you may also be required to abandon your car, or it may be requisitioned by military or civilian authorities under emergency regulations for official use. Do not, under any circumstances, expect to be able to drive your family in your vehicle, alone and unescorted, on the highways during times of crisis. Highway access and use will be strictly controlled by Korean government and military authorities. Convoy travel will be the order of the day. It is a good safety practise, at all times, to never let your car's gas tank get less than half full, if possible. Locating Evacuees ** The Canadian Embassy, other Canadian missions and the Task Force at the Operations Centre, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, in Ottawa, will all be involved in any evacuation effort, and will keep records of the names and locations of Canadian evacuees, subject to prevailing conditions. Embassy consular officers will forward names of Canadians and their status, regularly, to the Foreign Affairs Operations Centre, in Ottawa, by the most expedient means of communications available. The Embassy will do its best to assist in-country evacuees to find each other. Enquiries on your well being received from outside of Korea will be referred to the Task Force at the Foreign Affairs Operations Centre in Ottawa, where comprehensive data on the status of Canadian evacuees will be centralized. In an emergency, your relatives and close friends, located in Canada or the USA, should direct their enquiries to the Task Force at the Operations Centre, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ottawa, at 1-800-267-6788. All telephone enquiries directed to the Task Force by callers located outside of Canada or the USA should be made to (613) 944-6788. Relatives and close friends should not attempt to call the Embassy in Korea. If You Are Evacuated ** One of the most important things you can do, if you are evacuated, is call home as soon as possible to let your friends and family know you are safe. Appendix A Your Emergency Kit - A Checklist ** The Embassy recommends that you possess and hold the following items within easy reach, for inclusion in a portable Emergency Kit, in the event that a rapid departure from Korea is ever required : Your Essential Food Supplies and Equipment 1. Carry your food, clothing, supplies and equipment in back packs. 2. Pack a minimum 3-day supply of non-perishable, lightweight, high energy, packaged and ready-to-eat food, per person. 3. Bring water canteens (1 litre size), and purification tablets for making water drinkable. Local river water can be made useable by treating it with Clorox bleach, at the rate of one teaspoon of bleach per gallon of water. Treated water should be shaken and then let stand 20 to 30 minutes before using it. 4. Toiletries : including toilet paper, soap, tissues. 5. Pack a 30-day supply of prescribed medicines. 6. If you have an infant or young child, bring a 3-day supply of essentials including baby -food, formula, diapers. 7. Bring sleeping bags or a supply of blankets. 8. Bring appropriate rugged clothing and shoes including rain wear, a protective hat and a warm coat, whatever the weather or season. 9. Bring insect repellent and sun protection lotion (15 UPF min.). 10. Bring a spare pair of eye wear, if necessary. 11. Carry a comprehensive first aid kit and pain relievers. 12. Possess a flashlight and include spare batteries. 13. Carry a portable, multi-band radio and extra batteries. 14. Maintain a 30 day supply of non-perishable food and drinking water in your house should you have to stay put, while awaiting an opportunity to evacuate safely. Appendix B Bring Your Money and Important Documents 1. For your emergency use, bring a modest supply of U.S. and Korean currency to defray incidental travel and subsistence, if required. 2. Evacuees should carry their Canadian passports, birth and citizenship certificates or cards, and marriage certificates if applicable. Remember that, in the determination of eligibility for assisted evacuation, it is your responsibility to provide documentary evidence to prove your claim to Canadian citizenship, as well as that of each member of your family accompanying you. 3. Korean residency documents 4. Adoption certificates 5. Wills and powers of attorney 6. Insurance policies and mortgage records 7. Chequebooks 8. Bankbooks and safe deposit box keys 9. Credit cards 10. Traveller's cheques 11. Family and pet health and immunization records 12. Prescription 13. Social Insurance Card 14. School records 15. Personal address books 16. A list of all assets, debts and contents of safe deposit box 17. A complete household inventory for personal insurance purposes. 18. The address, home and work telephone number of your warden 19. Photocopies of the identification pages of the passports of each family member 20. This Consular Emergency Evacuation Plan booklet. NOTE: WHETHER OR NOT YOU EVER HAVE TO CONSIDER THE PROSPECT OF ASSISTED EVACUATION BECAUSE OF A MILITARY EMERGENCY OR A NATURAL DISASTER, IT IS A SOUND IDEA TO KEEP ALL OF THE ITEMS LISTED HERE IN A FOLIO, A SMALL BRIEFCASE OR CARRY-ON BAG, IN A SAFE BUT ACCESSIBLE PLACE THAT CAN BE REACHED IMMEDIATELY IN AN EMERGENCY. Appendix C RADIO KOREA INTERNATIONAL http://rki.kbs.co.kr RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL http://www.rcinet.ca VOICE OF AMERICA http://www.voa.gov BBC WORLD SERVICE http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONAL http://www.rfi.fr/ Only VOA can be counted upon to broadcast clearly all times. Other International services are often inaudible. In case of emergency, Canadians have to carefully listen to the public broadcasting such as TV and radio, but AFKN should be their first source. AFKN(American Forces Korea Network) FM: 102.7 MHz AM: 15.30KHz AFKN Frequencies in Korea Location Radio Television Channel FM AM Chinhae 88.5 1512 2 Chunchon 88.5 1440 46 Cheju-Do 1512 Kunsan 88.5 1440 49 Kwangju 88.5 Munsan 88.5 1440 19 Osan 88.5 1359 49 Pajuri 88.5 1440 Pohang 1512 Pusan 88.1 1260 2 Pyongtaek 88.3 1440 58 Seoul 102.7 1530 34 Taegu 88.5 12 Tongduchon 88.3 1197 49 Uijongbu 88.5 1161 58 Wonju 88.3 1440 58 Waegwan 88.3 1080 49