Muan-gun Declares 'Emergency' Amid Heavy Snow as Private Rental Snow Removal Vehicle Strike Occurs

Kim San, Muan County Governor, Steps in to Mediate Directly... Difficulty Securing Replacement Vehicles

A vehicle from a contracted company responsible for snow removal in Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do caught fire, and the fire was extinguished within 10 minutes after the 119 emergency service arrived. / ⓒ Asia Economy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo] An emergency situation arose in Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, as five out of eight snow removal vehicles operated by the county, which are leased, stopped working from the afternoon of the 9th.

According to Muan-gun on the 9th, private lease vehicle business owners began canceling contracts, even going as far as damaging vehicles, due to unreasonable work demands from the county. Although County Governor Kim San visited the site to mediate, no amicable agreement was reached, and the damage is expected to affect the residents, prompting urgent calls for countermeasures.

Five large vehicles leased by Muan-gun signed a private contract on December 10 last year to remove accumulated snow for three months until March 10, at a cost of 12 million won.

With heavy snowfall in the Muan-gun area over the past four days, leased vehicle staff were continuously deployed for snow removal work, accumulating fatigue. On the day in question, they started work at 3 a.m., cleared major roads, and returned to the company around 10 a.m. for breakfast.

However, Section Chief B of Muan County Office requested another deployment for snow removal due to numerous complaints, but the contracted staff expressed difficulty in dispatching as the deicing agent had run out.

Eventually, a verbal dispute broke out between the two sides, and the frustrated contracted staff insisted on terminating the snow removal vehicle lease contract in protest.

As a result, Mr. A detached the snow removal equipment from the vehicle, poured fuel inside the vehicle and engine, and set it on fire.

Employees who witnessed the incident used fire extinguishers to put out the fire and called the 119 fire brigade. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes, burning only part of the vehicle.

Mr. A claims that he set the fire out of anger due to the abusive behavior of Muan-gun officials.

Mr. A said, “Even though the calcium chloride was depleted and we couldn’t dispatch, Muan-gun instructed us to at least drive the empty vehicles with sirens on because the snow kept falling, which made me angry,” adding, “Not understanding the situation on site and treating people like machines is a typical case of abuse of power.”

In response, Section Chief B said, “Compared to previous years, there has been an unusually heavy snowfall this year, so it is tough, but the request was made to put more effort into snow removal considering residents’ inconvenience,” and added, “Since it is a special task, the intention was for everyone to endure hardships together when it snows.”

Upon hearing this news, Muan County Governor Kim San personally visited the site to calm the vehicle owners and attempted mediation, but it is reported that no amicable agreement was reached.

As a result, five of the eight snow removal vehicles operated by Muan-gun under lease contracts stopped working from the afternoon of the 9th, causing an emergency in Muan-gun’s snow removal operations.

Muan-gun has begun securing replacement vehicles, but structural modifications for equipment installation are expected to take several days, raising concerns about traffic chaos if heavy snow continues to fall.

On that day, the Muan area recorded a maximum snowfall of 6.7 cm as of 6 a.m.

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