The Democratic Party recently described the sinkhole incident that occurred in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, as a “man-made disaster” and criticized the Seoul government's decision to ‘keep the ground subsidence safety map’ undisclosed.
The Democratic Party's Seoul City chapter and the New Seoul Preparation Special Committee recently held an emergency expert meeting in the National Assembly's member's office building on the 28th regarding the sinkhole incident that occurred in Seoul.
This meeting was held with the purpose of addressing the cause of the incident and planning responses after a 30-year-old man lost his life due to a sinkhole that occurred in Myeongil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, on the 20th. It follows another large sinkhole that occurred after eight months since the sinkhole incident in Seongsan-ro, Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, in August last year, highlighting the need for a comprehensive assessment.
The meeting included Democratic Party lawmakers Park Jumin, Yeom Tae-young, Jin Sun-mi, and Kim Nam-keun, along with local committee chair Park Kyung-mi and Health Care Special Committee Chair Kang Cheong-hee, and Seoul city council member Kang Dong-gil. Experts included Professor Park Chang-geun from the Department of Civil Engineering at Catholic Kwandong University and Lee Ho, President of the Korea Underground Safety Association.
Park Jumin, the chairperson of the Democratic Party's New Seoul Special Committee, criticized, “Although Seoul has a map of ‘ground subsidence safety’ predicting sinkhole risk areas, it is kept undisclosed under the pretext of real estate prices.” He added, “The reason given is that it might affect real estate prices, but I cannot understand whether real estate prices are truly more important than life and safety.”
Additionally, Seoul city council member Kang Dong-gil pointed out, “In relation to the recent sinkhole incident, a worker who was involved in subway construction filed complaints twice regarding concerns of ground collapse in October last year and February this year, and the owner of a nearby gas station filed complaints on March 6 and 9 about floor cracking.” He said, “If the city had responded more sensitively to the warning signs, the results would have been completely different.”
Experts in underground and ground matters emphasized the necessity for the city’s accountability and the prevention of poor construction.
Professor Park Chang-geun said, “During the investigation into the Yeonhui-dong sinkhole incident, I got the impression that the city tried to cover up and minimize it while evading responsibility.” He indicated, “The recent (Myeongil-dong) sinkhole incident seems to be due to poor construction aimed at reducing costs by not adequately performing ‘casing multi-stage grouting’.” He added, “We need to clarify the detailed items of underground safety assessment and secure appropriate funding.”
Furthermore, Lee Ho suggested measures to prevent ground subsidence incidents, including: strengthening investigations into ground subsidence, enhancing design and construction capabilities for underground excavations, reinforcing the system for underground joint investigations, and strengthening the roles of specialized technical personnel in soil and geology.