To prevent recurring factory fires, the government will launch the first-ever pan-government joint full-scale inspection of more than 190,000 factories and warehouses nationwide. It will mandate the use of noncombustible exterior materials for hazardous-material facilities and greatly expand the scope of sites required to install sprinklers. It will also create 3 trillion won in policy finance and a 1.25 trillion won loan program to prompt corporations to invest in safety facilities.
On the 31st, at a meeting of the Emergency Economic Headquarters and the Ministers' Meeting on the Economy presided over by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Koo Yun-cheol, the government announced a "factory fire safety reinforcement plan" along these lines.
First, starting in September and running through the end of next year, the government will conduct a comprehensive survey of more than 190,000 factories and warehouses nationwide, including factories and warehouses with a total floor area of at least 500 square meters and hazardous-material storage facilities. It will first survey about 40,000 high-risk factories with hazardous materials by year-end, then expand the survey next year to business sites at risk of industrial accidents and to general factories. If violations, such as illegal expansions, are found, they will be corrected immediately, and the survey results will be managed by building them into databases (DB).
Fire safety standards will also be greatly strengthened, including mandating the use of noncombustible exterior materials. Authorities judged that major factory fires have recurred due to insufficient safety standards on production floors and a lack of safety investment. Until now, semi-noncombustible exterior materials were allowed. The installation of intelligent fire detectors will be mandated in place of general fire detectors, and the sprinkler installation standard will be expanded from "four stories or higher and 1,000 square meters or more on the floor in question" to "all floors of factories with a total floor area of at least 5,000 square meters." However, the new safety standards will apply only to new buildings.
To induce corporations to invest in safety equipment for existing facilities, financial and tax support will also be expanded. The government will promote a 200 billion won subsidy program to support the installation and replacement of fire prevention equipment and firefighting facilities for small and midsize corporations, and from 2027 it will also establish, for five years, a "Zero Fire and Safety Investment Loan Program" totaling 1.25 trillion won. It will invest in fire prevention R&D as well, including AI-based early warning.
Through the Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT), a total of 3 trillion won in policy finance will be supplied, and insurance premium discounts will be expanded for factories equipped with fire safety facilities. If large corporations support improvements to fire prevention facilities at their partners, a plan will also be pursued to deduct 10% from their corporate tax.
Safety management and penalties will also be strengthened. The government will introduce a "post-approval inspection system" under which local governments re-verify legality after a certain period even after use approval, and it will mandate repeated imposition of enforcement fines. It will also run a focused reporting period for factory fires via the Safety Report portal and raise the reporting reward from the current 200,000 to 1 million won per case to a maximum of 2 million won. If a penalty surcharge or fine is imposed following an internal whistleblower's report, a plan will be pursued to pay up to 30% of the imposed amount as a reward.
Some, however, question whether a full survey of 190,000 buildings is realistically feasible. During the two-month pilot period (June–July), only 112 buildings were surveyed. A government official said, "It is true that the base number is quite large for this joint ministerial survey," adding, "We will draw up a plan and conduct a thorough survey after judging how many can be inspected per day and how long it will take by factory type."