Police Chief: "Consecutive Fatal Safety Accidents... Full Effort to Ensure Public Safety with 'Proactive and Preventive' Measures"

Nationwide Police Command Video Conference Held
Strict Investigation Ordered for Pyeongtaek Fire and Gwangju Collapse Accidents
Capacity Enhancement Ordered in Line with Enforcement of the 'Serious Accident Punishment Act'

Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong of the National Police Agency. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] In response to recent safety accidents causing casualties, such as the fire at a frozen warehouse construction site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and the collapse accident at an apartment construction site in Gwangju, the National Police Agency held a "National Police Command Video Conference" on the 14th to review the police's prevention and response system.

The meeting, chaired by Commissioner General Kim Chang-ryong, was attended by 350 people including the National Police Agency command, heads of provincial police agencies and affiliated institutions, and police station chiefs.

Commissioner Kim said, "With consecutive safety accidents involving casualties, public anxiety is increasing," and urged, "As police officers, we must take responsibility and make every effort to secure the safety of the public proactively and preventively."

Commissioner Kim particularly instructed to clarify the facts through swift and strict investigations into the Pyeongtaek fire and Gwangju collapse accidents, and to enhance investigation capabilities for safety accidents in preparation for the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act on the 27th of this month.

Commissioner Kim emphasized, "Detecting signals of safety accidents in advance to prevent greater damage is one of the police's inherent duties," and ordered, "Always maintain awareness of problems, normalize activities to discover and eliminate accident factors around daily life, and minimize casualties through on-site measures such as traffic control and resident evacuation according to manuals when major accidents occur."

At the meeting, the national police command comprehensively reviewed safety accident risk factors related to police work, including ▲prevention of industrial site explosives safety accidents ▲prevention of large-scale traffic accidents in winter tunnels ▲prevention and response to accident factors during local police patrol activities ▲facility safety management of police stations, and discussed the adequacy of accident prevention activity systems.

Commissioner Kim stressed, "I sincerely pray for the repose of the firefighters who died in the fire scene and the safe return of the missing persons related to the apartment collapse accident," and added, "Keep in mind that large-scale accidents causing casualties all stem from small risks that could have been prevented in advance, and maintain vigilance to thoroughly carry out basic duties and accident prevention activities."

Additionally, Commissioner Kim shared measures to establish public service discipline, including securing political neutrality related to the upcoming presidential election on March 9.

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