World · East Asia & Pacific · 3 hrs ago
South Korea Opens Flood and Typhoon Monitoring Centers in Laos
South Korean agencies have opened two disaster-monitoring centers in Laos, including one at the weather and hydrology department in the capital, Vientiane.
The centers bring together systems to track rainfall, river levels, flood risks and typhoon movements in real time.
Officials can use the information to assess risks, manage dams and decide when residents should evacuate.
The work is part of a South Korean aid project that has run from 2020 to 2026 to improve water management and disaster response in the Nam Ngum River basin.
It also installed monitoring and flood-warning stations and prepared flood-risk maps and emergency plans.
Laos has taken over the systems and facilities from the project.
South Korea will provide free maintenance for one year to help the Lao government operate them.
South Korea has opened two operations centers in Laos to support flood forecasting and typhoon monitoring.
The centers were established at the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology and the Department of Energy in Vientiane.
The meteorology and hydrology center combines flood warning systems and a typhoon monitoring and forecasting platform.
The centers are intended to collect and analyze rainfall, river levels, flood forecasts and typhoon movements in real time.
The project involved 11 South Korean organizations and companies and ran from 2020 to 2026.
- Who
- The Korea International Cooperation Agency and South Korean water and weather institutions worked with Lao government agencies.
- What
- Two operations centers for flood forecasting and typhoon monitoring were opened.
- When
- The joint opening ceremony took place on October 22, 2026.
- Where
- Vientiane, Laos.
- Why
- To help Laos identify hazards in advance and strengthen its disaster response.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
KOICA carried out a project to build an efficient water management system and strengthen disaster response capacity in the Nam Ngum River basin.
A joint opening ceremony was held for two operations centers in Vientiane.
Yonhap reported the opening of the centers.
- Operations centers
- 2
- Locations
- Department of Meteorology and Hydrology and Department of Energy, Vientiane
- Project period
- 2020–2026
- Nam Ngum River basin monitoring stations
- 33 automatic observation stations and 10 flood warning stations
- Participating South Korean organizations and companies
- 11
- Contract value
- About 9.96 billion won, 76% of the total project cost
1 source
What people are saying
The opening of the operations center is an important turning point that will allow Laos to respond more proactively to natural disasters such as floods and typhoons.
This project is meaningful because it brought together Korea's technology and experience to strengthen Laos's disaster response capacity and make it available for use by the local government.