After One Year of Residency, Muan-gun Notifies 'Danger Zone'... Residents Point Out Safety Negligence

Sign Installed for 'Natural Disaster Risk Zone' on Part of Apartment Site Late Last Year

Move-in Started in 2022... 208 Households Unaware of Risk for Over a Year

County: "Ground Reinforcement Work Done, No Major Risk Expected, Will Monitor Closely"

Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do is embroiled in controversy after belatedly informing residents that the apartment site is a hazardous area. Residents, who only learned of this fact a year after moving in, are criticizing the administration for its "safety negligence."

According to Muan-gun on the 12th, the county installed a sign reading "Natural Disaster Risk Zone" (Collapse Risk Zone) around Apartment A in Muan-eup on December 22 of last year.

A sign reading "Disaster Risk Zone" (Collapse Risk Zone) installed around Apartment A in Muan-eup, Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do on December 22 last year.
[Photo by Oh Hwanju]

The problem is that the apartment has been occupied since 2022, with 208 households living there for over a year. This means residents lived for more than a year without knowing the area was hazardous.

Muan-gun was aware that part of the apartment site was a collapse risk zone but failed to properly manage and supervise the disaster impact assessment.

The county is being criticized for neglecting its responsibility in management and supervision, as it did not conduct construction start and completion inspections related to the disaster impact assessment by the construction company, which is the most important factor in disaster risk zones.

In particular, during the ground construction at the time of the apartment's construction, a section collapsed, causing work to halt temporarily while concrete was injected to reinforce the ground.

Article 7, Paragraph 3 of the Muan-gun ordinance on restrictions within natural disaster risk zones states that "risk resolution is possible when construction work that can effectively eliminate natural disaster risk factors is completed, or based on consultations with engineers or geotechnical experts, or results of safety inspections."

However, it has been revealed that Muan-gun did not resolve the disaster risk factors in advance through expert opinions or safety inspections.

A county official admitted, "We failed to properly manage and supervise," but added, "We forgot to notify about the disaster risk zone. There is nothing we can do now. We delayed the announcement because the construction was completed and we judged there was no significant risk. We are closely monitoring the area because it is a disaster risk zone."

Muan = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-ju just8440@asiae.co.kr

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