"Delayed Response Despite Forecasted Heavy Snow" ... Seoul City Ultimately Apologizes Humbly

Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul, "Switching to Preemptive Snow Removal System"
Snowplows Trapped on Commute Amid Cold Wave... Additional Snow Removal Equipment Introduced

On the morning of the 7th, a vehicle was stuck in the snow and unable to move on Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul City, which was criticized for inadequate snow removal work during the worst-ever snowfall exceeding 13.7 cm from the evening of the 6th until the next day, finally bowed its head and apologized to the citizens.

Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul, held an online briefing on the 8th and said, "Considering the ever-changing nature of the weather, we should have taken stronger measures earlier than the forecast, but there were shortcomings," and bowed deeply, saying, "We sincerely apologize for causing great inconvenience and concern to the citizens." He added, "To prevent such confusion and inconvenience from recurring, we will completely reorganize the snow and cold wave disaster prevention manual as well as the entire Seoul disaster system from scratch."

Snowstorm and Cold Wave... Response Level Raised One Hour After Snowfall

In Seoul, heavy snow and a cold wave were forecast from the afternoon of the 6th, but the accumulated snow was not cleared in time on the day and even until the morning of the 7th, causing traffic chaos in many places. Numerous vehicle accidents occurred, and traffic jams were so severe that even city buses could not move, leaving many citizens stranded in the harsh weather, experiencing inconvenience and confusion.

Earlier, the Korea Meteorological Administration forecasted on the 5th that 1 to 5 cm of snow would fall in the metropolitan area from 6 p.m. on the 6th to dawn on the 7th, and at 11 a.m. on the 6th, it updated the forecast to 3 to 10 cm of snow, requesting Seoul City to prepare snow removal measures.

The city started preemptive snow removal agent spraying around 5 p.m., and after snow began falling past 6 p.m., raised the response level around 7:20 p.m. and deployed snow removal vehicles. However, this was insufficient to cope with the heavy snowfall reaching up to 7 cm per hour. Due to the sudden heavy snow, roads during rush hour became virtually parking lots with severe traffic congestion, preventing snow removal vehicles from moving and resulting in inadequate snow removal work, according to Seoul City.

Snow continued to fall overnight, and although Seoul City and autonomous districts continued snow removal work until the morning of the 7th, the cold wave caused the snow on the roads to freeze solid, prolonging the traffic chaos the next day.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

"Promise to Reorganize the Entire Disaster System from Scratch"

However, Seoul City only extended the concentrated dispatch time of public transportation such as subways and buses by 30 minutes until 9:30 a.m. during the morning rush hour and did not provide any other guidance or announcements. It was only from 2 p.m. that day that a 24-hour situation room was activated and a belated response began.

This led to criticism that Seoul City, which entered an acting mayor system after the death of former Mayor Park Won-soon, revealed lax discipline and administrative gaps. There were also allegations that the delayed response to the heavy snowfall the next day was due to the replacement of the head of the Road Management Division, responsible for overall road operation and management, during a high-level personnel reshuffle on the 6th.

Han Je-hyun, Director of Seoul City's Safety General Office, explained at the briefing, "We responded to snow removal at a normal level, but the snow fell suddenly in a short time and coincided with rush hour traffic, causing snow removal vehicles to become trapped." Acting Mayor Seo also clarified, "The personnel appointment for the head of the Road Management Division was on the 8th, and the person was working normally on the day of the snowfall on the 6th, so it is unrelated to the personnel changes."

Following the apology, Seoul City announced that it would shift from a reactive snow removal strategy after snowfall to a proactive one before snow falls and would review the entire disaster system again. They plan to introduce a snow removal detection system for accident-prone and traffic-congested areas and a snow removal system that releases thermal energy when temperatures drop. Additionally, small snow removal equipment will be introduced to quickly apply snow removal agents such as calcium chloride to alleys and side streets where large equipment cannot access.

Acting Mayor Seo emphasized, "There is no administrative task more important than the lives and safety of citizens," and added, "Seoul City will take this incident as an opportunity for reflection and introspection to thoroughly protect the basics of life, including various systems and welfare blind spots."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.