Abstrakt
Even in the present day, fire disasters can seriously disrupt the functioning of a community or society and result, among others, in significant human, economic, cultural and environmental damage. It is thus both neccessary and desirable to be able to effectively react to such events, if possible prevent them from happening, or at least to reduce its potencial negative consequences.
Before modern firefighting system was introduced and properly implemented in Korea, fires were one of the most frequent and dramatic natural disasters Chosŏn government and society had to deal with, since it could spread very easily and was hard to stop without adequate firefighting equipment, technique and proper emergency management. The word disaster literally means "bad star".
Old Korean society had indeed perceived the occurence of natural disasters as an ominous or warning sign from the heavens and it was none other than the king who was often deemed responsible for such unfortunate events. Various disaster warding rituals seem to had been a common practise as well.
It was nevertheless necessary to take a more realistic approach towards this issue and so the presumably first government-organized firefighting system had slowly started to develop in the first decades of Chosŏn kingdom. Through this presentation I would like to intruduce the topic of my current research where I examine the perception of fire occurences, as well as the historical events and circumstances that led to the establishment of the first government-organized firefighting institution in the history of Korea (Kŭmhwadogam, 禁火都監) in 1426, its structure, identify which government departments were engaged in matters related to fire disaster prevention and response, and observe how this whole system developed throughout the history of Chosŏn kingdom.