[Anchor]
There is a high alert along the east coast due to concerns over casualties caused by rip currents—ocean currents that sweep swimmers away from the shore toward the open sea. Local governments are currently developing AI-powered systems to predict the movement paths of missing persons swept away by these currents.
Here is Song Hye-rim from G1.
[Reporter]
Water-related accidents continue to occur frequently, particularly at unassigned beaches.
Some of these accidents are attributed to sudden rip currents forming near the coast.
On August 3, a person in their 70s was rescued after being caught in a rip current while swimming at Hansum Beach in Donghae.
[Kim Do-hyun / Water Safety Lifeguard: We are deployed when inner tubes flip over and people cannot get back due to deep water, or when people wearing life vests go far out and are unable to return.]
Rip currents refer to powerful currents of water flowing rapidly away from the shore toward the open ocean, characterized by their narrow width and high velocity.
Moreover, they occur locally depending on various conditions such as seabed topography and shoreline shapes, making them difficult to predict.
Consequently, responding to these accidents is also challenging.
To prepare for such recurring maritime accidents, local governments have initiated technology development for accident response.
The city of Sokcho has embarked on developing a technology that uses artificial intelligence to predict the movement paths of missing persons at sea and implements the results on a digital twin platform.
Selected through a government contest, the project is being carried out around Sokcho Beach with a budget of approximately 700 million won.
The method involves placing human dummy models and buoys in the sea to collect real-time data on the paths and times they travel along the currents.
The collected data is analyzed based on the Korea Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency's marine prediction system to forecast detailed drift trajectories.
[Park Sang-hyun / Head of Sokcho City Digital Twin Operation TF Team: By using AI inference technology to combine seabed topography information, current data, and the movement paths we actually measured this time, we can predict how they will move and (save lives) more swiftly and rapidly.]
Meanwhile, the Korea Coast Guard has also issued rip current advisories and stepped up related patrols and preventive activities.
(Video Reported by Shin Ik-gyun / G1 Broadcasting)
Song Hye-rim, G1
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