Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, said on the 23rd that in response to sinkhole incidents, "We will strengthen the management of large excavation sites and old water supply and sewage leakages."
On that day, Mayor Oh checked the excavation site for the underground complex development construction at Yeongdong-daero and noted, "Recently, large accidents related to sinkholes have occurred near large excavation sites."
He visited the construction site to conduct a safety inspection of underground construction projects as sinkhole incidents have occurred consecutively in areas such as Myeongil-dong in Gangdong-gu and Iljik-dong in Gyeonggi Province.
Mayor Oh inspected the current status of the construction site for Section 3 of Yeongdong-daero, which is being carried out at a depth of 35 meters underground. This project aims to create a metropolitan transfer center with a facility area of 210,000 square meters in the underground section approximately 1 kilometer long between the Coex intersection (Line 9 Bongeunsa Station) and the Samseong Station intersection (Line 2 Samseong Station).
Mayor Oh emphasized, "We need to take care of both the old water supply and sewage pipes and underground excavation sites" and stated, "We will conduct GPR surveys once a month targeting large excavation sites and significantly increase safety management costs, reflecting them in the construction costs."
He also addressed the issue of leaks in old water supply and sewage pipes, mentioning, "The sewage pipes are more problematic than the water supply pipes," and added, "So far, we have invested 200 billion won annually to upgrade 100 kilometers, but from next year, we will maintain 200 kilometers with an annual budget of 400 billion won."
Moreover, regarding the non-disclosure of the prioritized maintenance area map (safety map) created to prepare for sinkhole incidents, Mayor Oh noted, "There is a misunderstanding that we do not disclose accurate maps due to concerns about real estate prices," and added, "With GPR, we can see up to 2 meters underground, and once that is achieved, we will disclose it immediately."
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to establish a dedicated organization, the 'Underground Safety Division,' to build an underground space management system. The current organization, which operates with 9 members in 2 teams, will be expanded to a division-sized structure of about 30 members. A Seoul city official stated, "We plan to recruit private professionals to enhance joint investigation and analysis capabilities."