By NCT Team
NCT APAC 2022 celebrated its 13th edition with an outstanding event held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, hosted at the Novotel Ambassador from the 25th to the 27th of October 2022. On this occasion, the NCT Team alongside the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) hosted the gathering of CBRNe, C-IED, EOD and demining representatives from military, civil and industry sector from all over Asia, the US and Europe. During the three-day event participants had the opportunity to discuss emerging CBRNe threats and learn about the newest technological advances in the sector. In fact, given its strategic position and the continuous CBRN threats deriving from the northern neighbor, the Republic of Korea has emerged as a regional pioneer in the field of CBRNe defense, thanks to its advanced technology and its strong bond with the US Forces.
NCT APAC 2022 proved once again its status as a leading CBRNe event in the region, welcoming the participation of high-level decision makers and top-ranking personnel from the ROK Army. This was indeed an unprecedented opportunity for all the attendees to learn from the Korean lead and to collect new inputs, insights, and practices.
The event consisted of a two-days international conference, industry exhibition and a unique capability demonstration conducted by the ROK CBRN Defense Command, bringing together 150 participants, including representatives from the Korean Government and Army besides other civil/military delegations from all over the world. Participants had the chance to engage with around 25 companies presenting their latest equipment and technologies within the CBRNe, C-IED, EOD and demining fields, including our Diamond sponsor, Heyl.
NCT APAC 2022 began with a capability demonstration led by the ROK CBRN Defense Command and opened by the welcoming words of its commanding General, BG Daewee Lee. Attendees were welcomed at the ROK CBRN Defense Command Headquarters in Seoul with an in-depth briefing of emergency protocols to tackle CBRN threats in the peninsula followed by an outdoor display of current capabilities in use by the Command.
The extraordinary outcome of the first day of the event is the result of an ever-growing and robust bond between the ROK CBRN Defense Command and the NCT Team, built on mutual trust, and long-standing cooperation.
The two-day Conference chaired by BG (Ret.) William King was inaugurated by an Opening Plenary featuring remarkable speeches and presentations hold by BG Dae Wee Lee, Commander of ROK Army CBRN Defense Command; LTG (Ret.) In-Bum Chun, Senior Vice President of the Association of the United States Army (Korea Chapter); Mr. Prum Suonpraseth, Executive Director of the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Centre and Mr. Greg Burel, Former Director of the United States Strategic National Stockpile with Meridian Medical Technologies.
Before moving to the heart of the conferences, another milestone of NCT events’ series took place: the so-called Tech Tour. The NCT Team accompanied Governmental delegates throughout the Exposition Hall to introduce them to the exhibiting companies, which had 5 minutes to present their own technologies and equipment.
The tour was divided into three groups: “CBRN Medical Countermeasures & Decontamination”; “CBRNe Threat Identification”; “Chemical & Explosives Detection and Training”. The Tech Tour proved to be a pillar of NCT events since it embodied an extremely unique chance for exhibiting companies to get in contact with high-level decision-makers and outline their solutions for the sake of establishing possible future cooperation.
The afternoon sessions were then ready to be launched. The first panel addressing the topic “Medical Countermeasures and CBRN Health Effects” was led by preeminent speakers such as the Director (Col. Mohammad Naeem) and Deputy Department Head (CPT Balasz Bene) of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI); CPT Eng. Ali Hassan AlMadfai, Head of Abu Dhabi’s Public Safety Branch at Abu-Dhabi Police; and Dr. Martin Weber, Senior Scientific Advisor of Heyl.
Subsequently, discussions during the abovementioned session laid the foundation for another extremely enriching panel, which was focused on “Enhancing CBRN/Explosives detection and Surveillance Capabilities” and led by the presentations of COL Yasutaka Matsubara, Chief Strategy Instructor of Staff College, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force; MAJ Jaeuk Lee, Naval Officer, Naval Special Warfare Flotilla, Republic of Korea, Mr. Harald Schmittgall, Advisor, Operational Efficiency and Security Sector Liaison at the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) and Mr. Mislav Manda, Area Sales and Marketing Director of DOK-ING.
The second eventful conference day started with an extremely compelling session touching upon the topic “Detecting Biological Threats and Adapting Response Capabilities to Future Epidemic Crisis”, conducted by insightful speakers such as Dr. Makoto Akashi, Professor at the Faculty and Postgraduate School of Nursing, Tokyo Healthcare University; LTC Ki Chul Park, CWMD Planning Officer at the 8th US Army, G-35 FUOPS CWMD Support, United States Forces Korea (USFK); Prof. Chan-Wha Kim, Professor Emeritus at Korea University; and Dr. Ling Claytor, Director of Global Medical Affairs at Emergent BioSolutions.
Consequently, the discussion moved into another deeply challenging issue, namely “Innovations in CBRNe Defense”. Said session had interventions from both civil and military representatives from the CBRNe industry such as Mr. Jean-Baptiste Balen, International Partner Markets Manager at SERB SA; MAJ Cheng Chun Chieh, from the 39th Battalion, Singapore Combat Engineers of the Singaporean Ministry of Defense; Mr. Rafael Arruga, Director of Business Development at Hispano Vema; and Mr. Ryan Kane and Mr. Paul Tebbey, from NightHawk Biosciences, Inc.
To conclude this incredibly noteworthy event, the final session dedicated to “Persisting Challenges in Demining in Post Conflict Areas” was addressed by panelists such as H.E Ly Panharith, Deputy Secretary General at the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Auhority (CMAA); Dr. Kiho Kim, Research Director at Korea Mine Clearance Research Institute; Gen. Supathat Narindarabhakdi, Director General at Thai Mine Action Center (TMAC); and finally, BG. Basant K. Ponwar, Inspector General and Director at the Counter Terrorism & Jungle Warfare College.
The event delivered an outstanding outcome to both the exhibiting companies and the military/governmental representatives, being a groundbreaking opportunity for them to network and discuss about the main issues and challenges evolving around the CBRNe threats in order to establish more robust ties and cooperation aimed at developing up to date and comprehensive countermeasures to tackle the said threats.
