South Korea is planning to put its prime minister in charge of coordinating collective efforts by the government when dealing with massive calamities like the deadly sinking of the ferry Sewol, officials said Tuesday.

As part of the government’s master plan for safety reforms, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said that Prime Minister Chung Hong-won will act as the response coordinator for disasters that require a pan-government effort.

The new measure comes in response to criticism following the Sewol incident in April that left over 300 dead or missing. During one of the worst maritime disasters in Korean history, the confusion in the chain of command prompted problems such as conflicting reports about the rescue process and inefficient allocation of medical staff.

Amid the chaos that followed, Chung ― the nation’s second-in-command ― announced he would take command of the search-and-rescue operations.

In the wake of the deadly accident, the government has been pushing to create a ministry that deals specifically with national disasters. But if the magnitude of the incident exceeds the ministry’s capacity to respond, the country’s premier will be in charge of pulling together all the government’s efforts and resources to cope with it.

The current law states that the minister of safety and public administration is to serve at the helm during such incidents.

As part of the new measure, the government officials will also consider entrusting the National Emergency Management Agency with rescue operations for land disasters, and allowing the soon-to-be-established headquarters for maritime safety to handle situations at sea.

During the Sewol incident, the lack of communication among government officials resulted in a false report that everyone aboard had been rescued. In order to prevent this from reoccurring, the government will establish a network which will help public officials exchange information related to an accident.

In addition, the government may also integrate some 20 emergency phone numbers including 119 (for emergencies), 112 (for maritime accidents) and 117 (for school violence) so that there is just one number.

“Each ministry should regard safety reform as its primary objective and make its very best efforts to achieve it, so that pre-Sewol and post-Sewol are completely different,” said Chung during the state council meeting in Seoul. He also urged civilian experts to actively participate in the government’s efforts to improve its safety policies.

According to Tuesday’s announcement, the number of civilian experts participating in drawing up the master plan for safety will expand from 21 to 50.

The first draft of the plan will be drawn up by December and will be finalized by February.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)