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Busan Metropolitan City Completes Safety Inspections of 79 High-Rise and Underground-Linked Complex Buildings

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Busan Metropolitan City Mayor Park Heong-joon announced that the City has completed the “Second Half of 2025 On-Site Review of the Disaster Response Support System for High-Rise and Underground-Linked Buildings,” which was conducted to confirm the faithful implementation of disaster-response manuals.

A “high-rise building” refers to a building with 50 or more stories or a height of 200 meters (m) or more. An “underground-linked complex building” refers to a building whose underground levels are connected to an underground station facility or an underground shopping arcade and that has 11 or more stories or an occupant capacity of 5,000 or more.

The inspections were conducted in two tracks: a joint inspection team consisting of the City, district governments, and private-sector experts (Dec. 2–3), and district-led inspection teams (Nov. 10–Dec. 27).

During the on-site inspections, the teams focused on key areas including: whether disaster prevention and damage reduction plans had been established and implemented; whether a chief disaster management officer had been designated, whether concurrent appointments were prohibited, and whether required training had been completed; the organization and operation of initial response teams; the installation and condition of comprehensive disaster prevention control rooms; and the appropriateness of the installation and operation of evacuation safety zones.

As a result of the inspections, minor issues were addressed immediately on site and safety consulting was provided. Matters requiring correction were improved through administrative measures such as requests for corrective supplementation or corrective action orders.

First, the City, district governments, and private-sector experts jointly conducted a sample inspection of 8 buildings at 4 sites (Dec. 2–3). The inspection found certain shortcomings, including insufficient training for initial response teams and disaster and terrorism response drills. Accordingly, administrative measures were taken against the facility management entities, including 14 cases of on-site consulting and 4 cases requiring corrective supplementation.

If safety management was somewhat insufficient but could be immediately improved on site, the teams provided guidance or safety consulting. Requests for corrective supplementation apply to cases where there is no legal violation but improvement is still needed. For violations, corrective action orders were issued.

In particular, the joint inspections and specialized consulting conducted together with private-sector experts (fire protection professional engineers) contributed to fire prevention and the enhancement of public safety in these buildings.

In addition, the district-led inspection teams inspected 71 buildings at 51 sites (Nov. 10–Dec. 27), excluding the facilities covered by the joint City–district inspections. As a result, administrative measures were taken against the facility management entities, including 37 cases of on-site consulting, 2 corrective action orders (at 2 sites), and 12 cases requiring corrective supplementation (at 7 sites).

Busan Metropolitan City will continue to block risk factors in advance through regular inspections and thorough follow-up management, strengthen disaster response capabilities on an ongoing basis, and secure public safety as its highest priority.

Kim Gi-hwan, Director General of the City’s Citizen Safety Office, stated, “Safety is the top priority that cannot be compromised,” adding, “We will continue to strengthen disaster response and support systems for high-rise and underground-linked buildings to create an environment where citizens can feel secure about fire safety and public safety.”