The government will conduct a full-scale survey of factories and warehouses nationwide that face a high risk of fire or have weak safety management.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 16th that, following a decision at the economic ministers' meeting on the 12th, it will launch a large-scale joint fire safety inspection across the government starting on the 17th.
The measure was prepared jointly by related ministries to closely examine overall disaster prevention practices at aging or poorly managed industrial facilities after a string of major fires at factories and other sites recently caused numerous casualties.
Until now, manufacturing facilities and logistics warehouses had to meet strict safety requirements, including in construction and firefighting, when first obtaining permits, and even during operation they were subject to a web of legal regulations depending on whether they handled hazardous materials or had a history of past accidents. However, because different government ministries separately oversaw each regulation, there were limits to comprehensively judging fire vulnerability at industrial sites and devising effective preventive measures.
Accordingly, under the leadership of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the National Fire Agency, and local governments will work closely together to carry out a comprehensive diagnosis that covers not only construction but also firefighting, hazardous materials, and on-site worker safety across all areas.
Those surveyed are 190,000 facilities with a total floor area of 500 square meters or more—where the Building Act imposes strict rules on fireproof structures and escape routes—out of 730,000 factory and warehouse buildings nationwide. In addition, facilities that store hazardous chemicals or flammable dangerous goods, as well as high-risk business sites designated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) for a high risk of industrial accidents, were added to the inspection list.
As for key inspection items, authorities will first compare actual sites with design blueprints to catch unauthorized structural changes or illegal expansions, which are cited as a primary cause of rapid fire spread. They will also check whether combustible sandwich panel materials were used and precisely determine the flame-retardant performance of insulation inside the panels.
They will also thoroughly examine whether fire doors and automatic fire shutters work properly and whether objects stacked near emergency exits are blocking evacuation routes for workers. Compliance with on-site rules—such as whether facilities that manufacture or store hazardous materials adhere to permitted quantities and locations, and whether combustible materials are isolated in safe areas during hot work that produces sparks—will also be a key focus.
For efficient inspections, the government will form joint teams that include private-sector experts, young workers with relevant certifications, front-line local government officials, firefighters, and labor office inspectors. Facilities with very high risk will be handled by a "detailed inspection team" led by architects or fire protection engineers, while general facilities will be handled by a "basic inspection team" accompanied by young workers, and the specific deployment will be finalized after reviewing the results of the initial pilot inspection.
The full inspection will proceed in phases. For one month starting on the 17th, a pilot inspection will be conducted on 106 factory buildings and one large business site located in Hwaseong, Yongin, Pyeongtaek, and Suwon to refine detailed plans. Starting in September, the main inspections will then be divided into three stages by fire risk and will be carried out sequentially through the end of next year.
To ensure the fact-finding survey does not end as a one-off event, the government plans to systematize and digitize the results to build an integrated management system shared by all ministries. It will order immediate correction of illegal modifications or negligent acts identified on site, and institutional loopholes revealed during the survey will be analyzed and actively reflected in revisions and supplements to each ministry's related laws and regulations.
Lee Jin-cheol, director-general for architectural policy at the land ministry, said, "With factory fires occurring one after another recently and casualties as well, public concern about fire safety is high," adding, "Since this is the first time that related ministries—including the land ministry, the climate ministry, the labor ministry, and the National Fire Agency—are conducting a large-scale fact-finding survey together, we will meticulously confirm what is needed for fire safety at factories and warehouses through the pilot inspection and proceed with the survey without a hitch."