KOREA: Public and Private Engagement in Korea’s Weather & Climate business

Compendium of Good National Practices for Public-Private Engagement

Jaegwang Won, KMA Seconded expert to WMO

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA, hereafter), established as the governmental entity in 1949, is in charge of Korea’s weather and climate operation in the national, regional and global context. The Korea Weather Act (No.14786) authorises KMA as the authoritative source of information in Korean sovereignty, especially for the disaster warning related to the extreme weather/climate events. KMA is an integrated part of the global weather and climate network, for example, as the global production center of NWP (GPC), the global information center (GISC), and the regional training center (RTC). In modern times, and not only in Korea but also worldwide, the public needs for weather and climate information surpass the capacity of the sole government services. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the private sector has emerged to respond to such needs in Korea. In this regard, the government of Korea has introduced legal and societal frameworks to support national weather industry, and furthermore, the global weather enterprise, in which KMA and its governmental and private partners play the key roles for implementation