Hankook Tire Accelerates Support Activities for Fire-Affected Areas

Hankook Tire & Technology (hereinafter Hankook Tire) announced on the 3rd that it has been actively engaged in recovery and compensation efforts about a month after the fire at its Daejeon plant.

Since March 13, Hankook Tire has been receiving damage reports from various channels due to the fire. Immediately after the fire, the company operated a resident support center within the company’s help desk and nearby community centers, handling not only damage reports but also consultations. As of April 25, a total of about 2,000 cases have been reported, including damages to residential areas and apartment complexes near the plant, as well as businesses, commercial establishments, and farms.

Hankook Tire plans to proceed with compensation as quickly as possible for damage claims that have a close causal relationship with the fire incident and can be substantiated with evidence.

Currently, cleaning of exterior walls of apartments, residential areas, and commercial buildings near the plant, as well as air conditioning filters, windows, and insect screens, is being compensated through apartment group insurance, while accommodation fees, cleaning fees, and car wash fees are being compensated by the company first. In the case of apartments, once compensation is made through group insurance, Hankook Tire will proceed with damage compensation through subrogation claims.

Damage recovery for public facilities such as schools has already been partially completed. For 17 nearby facilities including kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, on-site inspections were conducted followed by cleaning and replacement of playground sand and building cleaning work.

In Moksang-dong, the area near the Daejeon plant, more than 90% of damage compensation has been completed. However, in Seokbong-dong, damage reports were only recently finalized, so it is expected that compensation will take some more time.

From immediately after the fire, Hankook Tire, along with employee volunteer clubs, carried out dust and foreign substance removal work in affected apartment complexes and residential areas. In particular, Hankook Tire employees frequently visited affected areas to participate in recovery efforts.

Additionally, using water trucks, road cleaning operations were conducted for about a month in nearby apartment complexes, residential areas, main roads, and side streets. Besides apartments and residential areas, damage to merchants and farms is also being assessed through expert investigations, and damage recovery procedures are underway.

Yoon Jeong-rok, head of Hankook Tire’s Daejeon plant, said, “From immediately after the fire, we have prioritized efforts to recover residents’ damages by utilizing all possible means,” adding, “The company plans to communicate individually with affected residents to ensure they fully understand and accept the situation and to find solutions.”

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