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Mayor Park Heong-joon Orders Preemptive Measures to Block Safety Accidents During the Thawing Season… Intensive Inspections Conducted at Approximately 1,800 Vulnerable Facilities

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it is carrying out large-scale safety inspections focused on vulnerable facilities to prevent safety accidents during the thawing season.

The thawing season (February to April) is a period when frozen ground from winter melts due to rising temperatures, weakening the soil and increasing the risk of various safety accidents such as collapses, overturning, and rockfalls.

The city will conduct thawing-season safety inspections at 1,803 vulnerable facilities across its jurisdiction. The inspections, led by the City’s Citizen Safety Office in cooperation with relevant bureaus and departments, affiliated public institutions, and district and county governments, began on February 23 and will continue through April 10.

The inspections focus on identifying risks of collapse, including ground subsidence, cracks, and soil erosion, as well as assessing the overall management conditions of major facilities such as retaining walls and stone embankments.

A total of 1,803 sites have been designated for inspection, including 1,272 steep slopes, 356 landslide-prone areas, 64 construction sites, 57 retaining wall structures, 35 roads, 12 cut slopes, and 7 other sites.

Facilities classified as Grade D or E under the Special Act on the Safety and Maintenance of Facilities are also included in the inspection targets to minimize blind spots in safety management.

In particular, to enhance the effectiveness of the inspections, the city has formed joint public-private inspection teams that include experts in relevant fields such as civil engineering and architecture.

Since February 23, the joint inspection teams have been conducting intensive inspections at 175 thawing-season vulnerable sites, including construction sites and retaining walls. In addition, joint safety inspections are being carried out in accordance with relevant laws and procedures at 1,272 steep slopes from February 23 to April 10 and at 386 landslide-prone areas from February 10 to April 3.

From February 24 to February 27, the city also conducted preemptive joint public-private sample inspections at eight major project sites, including the Busan South Port West Breakwater Disaster-Prone Area Improvement Project, selected based on comprehensive consideration of facility scale and risk factors.

To strengthen safety management during the thawing season, the city held pre-inspection meetings with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and related agencies, including district and county governments, to share management targets and response systems by institution and to review the current status of situation management.

Following the “Thawing Season Safety Measures Meeting among Central Government Ministries, Local Governments, and Related Agencies,” chaired by the Head of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on February 23, the city also held its own meetings with district and county governments. At these meetings, the results of last year’s thawing-season inspections were shared, and implementation plans and key inspection items for this year were discussed to ensure thorough preparation.

In addition, in connection with the thawing-season inspection meetings, the city held meetings to identify vulnerable workplaces and discuss countermeasures for the upcoming summer season, thereby preparing to proactively respond to seasonal disasters.

Meanwhile, through this inspection, the city plans to identify and eliminate potential safety hazards in daily surroundings by utilizing the Resident Inspection Request Program, under which citizens can directly report signs of danger at thawing-season vulnerable facilities such as retaining walls and slopes via the Safety Report Center (online) or local administrative welfare centers (offline).

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “For minor issues identified during this thawing-season safety inspection, corrective measures will be taken immediately on-site. In cases where repairs, reinforcement, or detailed safety diagnostics are required, preventive measures will first be implemented to avert safety accidents, followed by the necessary administrative procedures in consultation with relevant agencies.” He added, “As we enter the thawing season, I ask citizens to actively use the Resident Inspection Request Program to report any signs of danger at nearby facilities.”