Preparing 'Survival Bags' Costing 4 Million Won... Growing 'War Anxiety'

Dozens of bottled water packs are stacked up, and large shopping carts are filled with emergency food supplies such as canned goods, cereal, and sterilized milk.

Recently, authentication posts have been appearing one after another on social media and online communities, showing people hoarding supplies and packing "survival bags" in preparation for emergencies such as wars or major disasters.

Revealing a shopping mall order history online, one community user disclosed that they ordered 40 packs of ramen, a portable gas stove, and energy bars, adding, "I purchased disaster bags for each of the five family members, including water filtration filters, purification tablets, and CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) masks, and the cost came out to 4 million won," sharing the specific amount spent.

The types of items being packed are also professional, including foldable portable toilets and bags in preparation for water outages, as well as solar-powered auxiliary batteries.

Posts equipped with batteries organized by type in dedicated cases, urine coagulants, work gloves, and even saws also stand out.

This craze for stockpiling emergency supplies is analyzed to have been heavily influenced by growing anxiety over the recently unstable international situation.

As the situation in the Middle East grows unstable due to airstrikes on Iran by the U.S. and Israel and concerns over a prolonged war grow, the psychology of preparing for potential emergencies is spreading rapidly in South Korea as well.

In addition, news that major governments such as the UK, Sweden, and Germany advised people late last month to "stockpile emergency supplies for at least three days to up to two weeks" further stimulated anxiety.

With the situation like this, posts sharing checklists and encouraging participation in hoarding are also on the rise.

In response, experts pointed out that while maintaining a reasonable level of routine disaster preparedness is necessary, indiscriminate hoarding driven by excessive fear should be refrained from.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Lee Yu-jin | Design by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.