The government moved to review logistics facility safety management systems and prepare measures to prevent a recurrence in connection with the fire at Coupang's Incheon logistics center that broke out on the 18th. It came three days after President Lee Jae-myung said that the government will "inspect the overall safety management systems of large logistics facilities and draw up effective, comprehensive measures so the same kind of accident does not happen again" following the incident.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 20th that it held a kickoff meeting of the "Task force for improving fire safety systems at logistics facilities," attended by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Fire Agency, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, private-sector experts in architecture, firefighting, and disaster prevention, and the logistics industry, and discussed key review tasks and plans for operating the task force going forward. The task force plans to thoroughly review the current fire safety management system for logistics facilities, including analysis of the causes of logistics facility fires and the overall safety management framework spanning the design stage and operation and management of logistics facilities. It is composed of three subcommittees: operation and management, architecture, and firefighting and disaster prevention. It will also gather on-site feedback.
Key agenda items include: ▲ a review of the status and adequacy of current systems and regulations related to fire safety at logistics facilities ▲ plans to improve architectural structure and fire safety standards that reflect the characteristics of logistics facilities ▲ measures to strengthen supervision of fire safety management at logistics facilities ▲ installation and operation plans for firefighting facilities, taking into account fire response and evacuation.
Park Jae-soon, director general for Transportation and Logistics at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "As logistics facilities have recently become larger and taller and handle a wide variety of stored and processed cargo, fire risks are increasing, making it more important than anything else to establish a more thorough safety management system," adding, "We will do our utmost to sufficiently reflect on-site opinions so we can prepare safety management measures that reassure the public and are effective."
The fire that broke out at Coupang's 32 Logistics Center in Seoknam-dong, Seohae District, Incheon, at around 6:54 a.m. on the 18th has not been extinguished despite firefighting efforts continuing for a third day.