Lee Jae-myung's Letter on 'Fire Prevention System Improvement' Met with National Assembly's 'Legislative Amendment Proposal' Response

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] When Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung sent a letter to the National Assembly requesting 'fire prevention system improvements' to prevent casualties caused by fires at construction sites, logistics warehouses, and nursing hospitals, the National Assembly responded by proposing five bills to strengthen fire safety standards.

On the 3rd, Gyeonggi Province announced that Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Suwon-si Eul, recently analyzed fire vulnerability issues related to the Icheon Coupang logistics center fire and proposed five bills to strengthen fire safety standards for system improvement.

Baek’s legislative initiative was proposed after Governor Lee sent a letter to the National Assembly on the 30th of last month, urging the promotion of system improvements for enhanced fire safety standards, followed by a review of the relevant system.

The partial amendment to the Building Act proposed by Baek includes strengthening the standards for installing fire compartments in logistics warehouses and establishing grounds for including the area of underground floors of logistics warehouses in the floor area ratio.

Additionally, to enable rapid rescue and fire suppression in large-scale logistics facilities, a partial amendment to the Act on the Development and Operation of Logistics Facilities was proposed to mandate the posting of information on stored combustible goods and other items to prevent delays in firefighting activities.

The partial amendment to the Dangerous Goods Safety Management Act includes mandating the appointment of safety managers at construction sites and other locations where dangerous goods are temporarily stored or handled.

Since there are no regulations requiring the appointment of safety managers at temporary dangerous goods storage and handling facilities, unqualified supervisors are often designated as safety managers, making these sites vulnerable to fire and other accidents. The legal basis aims to address this issue.

Furthermore, Baek proposed a partial amendment to the Firefighting Facilities Act to retroactively apply simplified sprinklers to small-scale elderly nursing facilities when fire safety standards are strengthened and to apply enhanced fire safety standards to refrigerated and frozen warehouse facilities with high risks of casualties.

Baek emphasized the urgency of the legislative amendment, stating, "This amendment reflects an analysis of fire vulnerability issues and incorporates various opinions from the firefighting sector to achieve practical effects in system improvement. It is necessary for the National Assembly to promptly review it."

Earlier, Governor Lee sent a letter to the 22 members of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, stating, "Maintaining the national community and protecting the lives and safety of its members is the greatest responsibility of the state," and requested their interest and cooperation regarding legislative tasks discussed in Gyeonggi Province related to public safety.

In the letter, Governor Lee said, "Gyeonggi Province has experienced numerous fires and has done its best to improve systems within its capacity. However, it is also true that there are limits to what local governments can do, and your interest and cooperation are crucial to prevent recurrence."

He added, "Currently, Gyeonggi Province has the largest number of logistics, refrigerated, and frozen warehouses in the country, totaling 1,302. Fires repeatedly occur due to the use of combustible building materials during the construction of logistics warehouses, and elderly nursing facilities and construction sites are also highly vulnerable to fires."

He further stated, "Special safety devices are needed in places with particular risks. Please cooperate to establish strengthened safety standards appropriate to the risks of facilities to ensure the effectiveness of public safety."

Meanwhile, according to the Gyeonggi Province Fire and Disaster Headquarters, there are a total of 28,318 warehouse facilities in the province, with general warehouses being the most numerous at 26,760, followed by 906 logistics warehouses and 396 refrigerated and frozen warehouses.

In the past five years (2016?2020), 86 fires occurred in warehouse facilities in the province, resulting in 5 deaths, 29 injuries, and a total of 3.39 billion KRW in property damage.

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