![\"\uc0ac\uc9c4\uc124\uba85\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20260822_01110121000006_L00.jpg\")
\uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300\n“We will respond with preparation, not after the fact.”<\/p>\n
\uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300
\n“We will respond with preparation, not after the fact.”<\/p>\n
Jang Yong-soo, consul general in Sapporo, said in a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper that he is responding in this way to safety concerns in Hokkaido, including natural disasters and bear sightings. Hokkaido is one of the most popular destinations for Korean travelers, and the number of visitors from the Republic of Korea is expected to exceed 1 million this year, up from about 950,000 last year.\n<\/p>\n
As part of that effort, the Consulate General signed an agreement with the city of Sapporo on the 19th to support Korean tourists in the event of a disaster. It is the first official agreement between a Japanese local government and a Korean diplomatic mission abroad aimed at protecting Korean nationals during a major disaster. Jang said, “If we wait to discuss what to do after a disaster occurs, it will be too late.” He added, “It is important to decide in advance where our citizens should go and whom they should contact.”\n<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, if a major disaster occurs, Sapporo will provide disaster relief supplies to Korean tourists who evacuate to the Consulate General. The Consulate General and Sapporo will also offer counseling and language support to Korean tourists staying at designated shelters. The two sides have also established an emergency contact network.\n<\/p>\n
Jang said, “One of the most important duties of a diplomat is to make sure that citizens can actually receive help when they are in crisis.”\n<\/p>\n
Another example of Jang’s field-oriented consular work is bear spray.\n<\/p>\n
Since April, the Consulate General has been lending bear spray and bear bells free of charge to Koreans living in or traveling to Hokkaido. The lending period runs from early April, when bear sightings are frequent, through the end of November.\n<\/p>\n
Last year, human casualties caused by bear encounters in Japan reached a record high. Hokkaido also saw fatalities, and reports of brown bear sightings in Sapporo rose sharply.\n<\/p>\n
“I thought simply telling travelers to ‘be careful of bears’ was not enough. So I looked for what the Consulate General could actually do.” The answer was the free lending program.\n<\/p>\n
Jang described the role of the consulate with the word “field.” Since taking office, he has not stayed only in Sapporo. He has personally visited places across Hokkaido, including Higashikawa, Asahikawa, Hakodate, and Tomakomai.\n<\/p>\n
Tomakomai, in southwestern Hokkaido, is drawing attention for its port and logistics potential. Jang believes that once the Northern Sea Route (NSR) opens in earnest, the Republic of Korea and Japan will need to cooperate proactively.\n<\/p>\n
[Tokyo, Lee Seung-hoon]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\uc0ac\uc9c4 \ud655\ub300 “We will respond with preparation, not after the fact.” Jang Yong-soo, consul general in Sapporo, said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49923,49981,5964,153,8,951,38006],"class_list":["post-77949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hokkaido","tag-consulate-general","tag-consulate-general-of-the-republic-of-korea-in-sapporo","tag-hakodate","tag-hokkaido","tag-japan","tag-sapporo","tag-spray"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}