Scorching Hot Weather... South Korean Prime Minister Visits Local Governments and Construction Sites to Check Air Conditioning

Heatwave 'Alert' in Most Regions Nationwide
Site Visit to ShareCon Project
"Thorough Measures for Heat-Related Illness Prevention and Cooling Welfare"

On the 3rd, as a 'heatwave warning' was issued for most regions nationwide, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo visited a construction site in Seoul to inspect cooling facilities and heat illness prevention programs.

On the same day, Prime Minister Han visited Dobong-gu Office in Seoul to review the 'Sharecon Project,' which has been in operation since the 10th of last month. The 'Sharecon Project' is a compound word of Share and Air Conditioner. It is a public cooling sharing program that opens the district office space to residents free of charge. It operates daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. until the 30th of next month. Cities such as Seattle and Portland in the United States, and Toronto in Canada, also operate public cooling sharing programs by designating public institutions as cooling centers open to residents.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Dobong-gu has prepared 11 summer retreat spaces with pension-level interiors on the 1st and 2nd floors of the district office for the Sharecon Project, including ▲study rooms (reading rooms) for university students and job seekers ▲children's playrooms (ball pool rooms) ▲senior citizens' janggi and baduk rooms ▲massage chair rooms.

The Sharecon Project is also a public cooling sharing program targeting all classes and ages, reflecting the characteristics of densely populated residential areas in large cities. Oh Eun-seok, the head of Dobong-gu Office, told Prime Minister Han, “Many people do not know where the rest areas they can go to in their neighborhood are,” adding, “Dobong-gu Office has naturally become a community living room through word of mouth among residents who came for civil service tasks.”

Prime Minister Han said, “Dobong-gu Office’s attempt is a policy that increases the life satisfaction of each resident and reduces the burden of electricity bills, while nationally increasing the margin of power supply and demand during summer,” and encouraged, “More local governments should try such creative cooling welfare policies.”

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is speaking at the National Advanced Strategic Industry Committee held at the Government Seoul Office on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Prime Minister Han then visited the Changdong Station modernization project construction site to check the implementation status of protective measures to prevent heat illnesses among outdoor construction workers.

He inspected whether heatwave protection measures for on-site workers, such as the cooling status of the workers’ rest area at the construction site, were being implemented, and urged, “Local governments and construction managers should properly follow the three basic rules of water, wind, and rest to ensure that there are no safety or health problems for on-site workers.”

On the 27th of last month, Prime Minister Han had instructed the Ministry of Employment and Labor and others to inspect and encourage adherence to heat illness prevention rules, such as adjusting workers’ working hours, to prevent casualties and safety accidents due to the prolonged heatwave.

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