Preparing an emergency kit
The key is putting it all in one bag near your front door.
Must-haves
- Water — three days at 3L per person per day.
- Ready-to-eat food — tins, instant rice, biscuits, nuts.
- A torch and spare batteries. Don't rely on your phone's light alone.
- A power bank (kept charged) and cables.
- Medicines — three days of what you take, plus antacid, painkillers, plasters, antiseptic.
- Copies of your passport and residence card, and your emergency card. See emergency-card.
- Some cash — card payment fails during a blackout.
- A whistle — sound marks your position if you are trapped.
- Masks, wet wipes, plastic bags.
- A thermal blanket.
Add by household
- Babies — formula, bottles, nappies, wipes.
- Older people — a list of prescriptions, mobility aids, spare glasses.
- Pets — food, bowl, lead, carrier. See pet-emergency.
- Women — sanitary products.
Keeping it usable
- Gather it into one backpack near the entrance or bedroom.
- Check every six months — replace expiry-dated food, batteries and medicines.
- Make sure everyone at home knows where it is.
- A small set at work and in the car is worth having.
- Agree a meeting point in advance — communications may go down.
Information to prepare alongside
- Your nearest shelter — find it on safekorea.go.kr or the Safety Diddimdol app.
- Know where the gas valve and breaker box are.
- Don't switch off disaster alerts — multilingual guidance is sometimes provided. See disaster-alerts.
Where to go
- 119 fire and ambulance
- safekorea.go.kr national disaster safety portal (shelter search)
- Safety Diddimdol app (disaster alerts)
- 120 local authority call centre
- 1345 Immigration Contact Centre
Questions people ask
I live in a studio with no space. One backpack is enough. Water, a torch, a power bank, medicines and document copies alone will do.
How do I find a shelter? Search by address on safekorea.go.kr or the Safety Diddimdol app — earthquake and civil defence shelters are listed separately. See earthquake.
Disaster texts are in Korean and hard to follow. The Safety Diddimdol app offers some multilingual guidance — use a translation app alongside. See disaster-alerts.
Should I throw out water past its date? Replacing it is safer. Mark the check cycle on your calendar.
Take care
Candles during a blackout are a serious fire risk — use a torch. If you smell gas, don't touch any switch — open the windows, get out, then call 119. See gas-leak.
Related
earthquake · typhoon · disaster-alerts · emergency-card · gas-leak
Source
Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Safe Korea www.safekorea.go.kr / As of 2026-08