The first civil defense drill in six years will take place nationwide on Wednesday involving the evacuation of citizens and partial traffic control.

The interior ministry earlier said the drill, assuming the scenario of an air raid on the country, is aimed at familiarizing the nation with response measures in a contingency.

When a mock siren sounds at 2 p.m. sharp, people must take shelter. If there are no designated shelters nearby, they must evacuate to a safe underground space.

When another siren goes off 15 minutes later, people can leave the shelters and resume movement on the streets but should remain vigilant before returning to normalcy five minutes later when the drill ends. 

The location of some 17-thousand designated shelters at subway stations and underground apartment complexes and shopping centers can be found on Naver and Kakao phone apps.

Also during the drill, some roads will be blocked to clear the way for emergency and military vehicles. Drivers must move their cars to the right side of the road, listen to the radio and follow instructions.

In a bid to minimize public inconvenience, hospitals, subways, trains, airplanes and ships will operate normally. However, during the 15 minutes, people cannot leave the subway station after getting off the train.