Songpa-gu to Promote Temporary Use Approval for Relocation of Subway Songpa Station Entrance and Connecting Passage

[Seoul District News] Songpa-gu Minimizes Resident Inconvenience Before Completion of Line 8 Songpa Station Exits 3 & 4 and Connecting Passage... District Mayor Park Seong-su: "We Will Ensure Safety Management Until Remaining Construction Is Complete to Prevent Any Inconvenience"... Eunpyeong-gu Conducts 'Visiting Safety Inspections' for Small-Scale Aging Buildings

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) inspected the construction site on the 25th for temporary use approval before the completion of the ‘Songpa Station Entrance Relocation and Connecting Passage Construction’.

The construction, which began in August 2020, was promoted as a condition of the Garak Siyeong Apartment Reconstruction Maintenance Project. The project involved simultaneously closing entrances 3 and 4 of Songpa Station on Subway Line 8. Residents who used entrances 3 and 4 had to cross Songpa-daero using a temporary crosswalk to access entrances 1 and 2, causing inconvenience.

Residents hoped to use entrances 3 and 4 and the connecting passage at Songpa Station as soon as possible, but the construction period was extended due to logistics and manpower shortages caused by COVID-19.

Accordingly, Songpa-gu decided to pursue temporary use approval before completion to minimize residents’ inconvenience. However, the district added that temporary use approval is possible only after consultation and review with related organizations, including Seoul Metro, to ensure there are no safety issues.

After the opening of Songpa Station entrances 3 and 4, work such as removal of the temporary crosswalk, dismantling of traffic lights, relocation of bus stops, and road paving will be completed and the project finalized by the end of July this year.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “We will do our best to ensure that the construction is thoroughly monitored until completion without any safety accidents, so that residents can use the facilities without inconvenience, including the promotion of temporary opening.”

Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) will conduct ‘visiting safety inspections’ targeting small-scale aging buildings that are excluded from the safety inspection targets defined by various laws and regulations and may be relatively neglected in safety management.

The inspection targets are small-scale aging masonry buildings approved for use in 1971 and 1991, which have reached 30 and 50 years after approval, respectively, and are not subject to mandatory regular inspections by law. These include 1,357 single-family houses, 218 multi-family houses, and 58 other uses such as commercial buildings, totaling 1,633 buildings. Residents can also apply for free safety inspections for other aging buildings.

In particular, from April, ‘compulsory safety inspections’ will be conducted on buildings subject to inspection that have not applied. To encourage user participation, prior notices, opinion collection forms, and inspection application forms will be provided to reflect user opinions in the inspection content.

The inspection method involves a first round of visual inspections conducted by architectural experts such as architects and structural engineers using a safety inspection checklist. Buildings judged inadequate or defective in the first inspection will undergo a second inspection by a building management inspection agency, checking structural safety, fire safety, and more.

Depending on the inspection results, buildings with minor defects or requiring simple repairs will be guided to self-repair or reinforcement by the owners. Buildings with major defects in key structures requiring safety management will be designated and managed as Type 3 facilities under the Special Act on Facility Safety Management.

Kim Mi-kyung, Mayor of Eunpyeong-gu, said, “Small-scale aging buildings without mandatory regular inspections tend to be neglected in safety inspections, but the district will carefully monitor these disaster-vulnerable points to ensure there are no safety blind spots. We will do our best to create a pleasant and safe residential environment in Eunpyeong-gu.”

Along with supporting safety inspections for aging buildings, Eunpyeong-gu is also promoting a project to support up to 50% of repair and reinforcement costs for old residential fences that have been in use for more than 10 years after approval, up to a maximum of 2 million KRW. Applications are accepted until April 7, and the final support targets and amounts will be decided through a subsidy review committee.

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