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🇰🇷 South Korea /Energy & Infrastructure

Korea Infrastructure Safety Head Vows Measures Against Aging Infrastructure Accidents

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The head of the Korea Infrastructure Safety Corporation pledged to establish measures to prevent accidents at aging infrastructure sites.
  • The commitment follows a recent accident during the demolition of an elevated road in Seoul.
  • The corporation plans to strengthen safety management for underground construction and small-scale sites, introducing a new 'Safety Patrol' system.

Park Chang-geun, head of the Korea Infrastructure Safety Corporation, has pledged to develop institutional safety measures to prevent recurrence of accidents at aging infrastructure sites. His remarks came in response to a recent incident during the demolition of the Seosomun elevated road in Seoul.

The most important thing in the process of dismantling aging facilities is the safety manual.

— Park Chang-geunKorea Infrastructure Safety Corporation head Park Chang-geun stressed the importance of safety manuals for infrastructure demolition.

Speaking at his first press conference since taking office, Park described the Seosomun elevated road accident as an unfortunate disaster occurring during facility demolition. He emphasized the critical importance of safety manuals in such processes and stated his commitment to actively cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to implement necessary safety protocols swiftly.

We will cooperate actively with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to establish institutional safety measures as soon as possible so that similar accidents do not recur.

— Park Chang-geunPark Chang-geun committed to working with the ministry to implement safety measures.

Looking ahead, Park outlined plans to bolster the corporation's research and development capabilities to proactively address the aging of infrastructure. The Korea Infrastructure Safety Corporation, an affiliate of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is responsible for the safety management of construction sites, facilities like bridges, and underground spaces.

In the long term, we plan to strengthen related research and development (R&D) capabilities to respond proactively to the aging of infrastructure.

— Park Chang-geunPark Chang-geun mentioned plans to enhance R&D for proactive infrastructure aging response.

Park also highlighted efforts to enhance safety management for underground construction, spurred by a series of major ground subsidence accidents last year. Additionally, the corporation is intensifying safety measures for small-scale construction sites, which account for approximately 40% of all construction-related fatalities. A new 'Safety Patrol' system, deploying dedicated personnel to inspect high-risk areas at smaller sites, is set to be introduced this year to improve accident prevention.

About 40% of all construction fatalities occur at construction sites worth less than 5 billion won.

— Park Chang-geunPark Chang-geun provided statistics on fatalities at smaller construction sites.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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