The Ministry of Health and Welfare signed an agreement with eight hospitals Tuesday to launch Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), a national medical squad for overseas emergency relief, officials said.

Under the agreement, the eight hospitals, including Myongji Hospital and Seoul National University Hospital, will recommend medical workers to provide services for disaster-stricken countries. The ministry will then quickly establish a relief system by putting together teams from the pool of recommended personnel, they said.

The other six hospitals are Kyoungpook National University Hospital, Inha University Hospital, Chosun University Hospital, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Hallym University Hospital, and Wonju Severance Christian Hospital.

According to the Overseas Emergency Relief Act legislated in 2007, the ministry has dispatched relief squads to disaster-hit countries, including the tragic earthquake in Nepal about two years ago.

Although the government has formed the medical support teams from among individuals interested in overseas emergency aid, these squads experienced difficulties coping with foreign disasters swiftly and efficiently.

The activation of KDRT reflects the need to overcome such limitations by systemizing the process of selecting and forming medical teams for quick deployment.

The eight medical institutions will nominate and organize the official medical team for KDRT through a fast and efficient application system. Their objective is to arrive at the country of crisis within 72 hours fully prepared.

The ministry has also reformed the activities of emergency relief teams to meet international standards by benchmarking World Health Organization’s Emergency Medical Team (WHO EMT), a global mechanism that coordinates assistance activities based on the needs of the receiving country.

“We hope that this accord will help us overcome the current difficulties and set an example of successfully coordinating emergency relief activities,” Minister of Health and Welfare Chung Chin-yeob said.

Korea has also dispatched relief squads to Myanmar, Haiti, the Philippines and Sierra Leon in recent years.