Oh Kyunghoon, Jinju City Council Member, Urges for Preemptive Measures Against Sinkholes

Order to Establish Comprehensive Countermeasures Including Formation of Special Task Force, GPR Survey, and Risk Map Preparation

Oh Kyunghoon, a member of the Jinju City Council in Gyeongnam, pointed out at the 256th regular session on the 3rd that recent consecutive sinkhole incidents in the region have revealed shortcomings in Jinju City's management.

During his five-minute free speech, Councilor Oh stated, "The repeated ground subsidence and sinkhole accidents in Sangpyeong-dong have put the safety and daily lives of citizens at risk, causing great shock to everyone." He reiterated the importance of Jinju City's attention, inspections, and preemptive measures, and urged for prompt countermeasures.

Referring to a series of sinkhole occurrences since last year, Councilor Oh criticized, "The responsible department previously claimed to have taken comprehensive action after the first and second incidents, but a third sinkhole occurred in the same area." He emphasized that this incident should serve as a lesson and called for stricter management and supervision.

Kyungho Oh is emphasizing the urgent preparation of countermeasures for sinkholes at the 256th regular session of Jinju City Council.

In particular, Councilor Oh questioned why ground subsidence continues to occur due to sewer pipelines, even though an old sewer pipeline maintenance project has been underway since 2022. He criticized, "The occurrence of this sinkhole is not simply a matter of road collapse, but a serious warning that exposes vulnerabilities in the city's infrastructure and management system."

Councilor Oh cited an exemplary case, saying, "Seoul Metropolitan Government has secured professional personnel and equipment, and since 2014 has conducted a full-scale investigation of about 18,000 km of underground cavities, proactively addressing over 6,300 risk factors." He stressed that Jinju City must also establish and implement proactive response measures.

According to Councilor Oh, Jinju City should collaborate with specialized companies in each field to accurately identify the causes of ground subsidence using advanced technologies such as GPR surveys that penetrate the surface to detect underground conditions. Based on the survey results, the city should: ▲ establish and operate a special task force for sinkhole countermeasures ▲ prepare comprehensive institutional improvements related to underground safety ▲ build a reporting system and actively encourage citizen participation in safety activities. These sequential and preemptive measures are necessary.

Sinkholes were once rare in Korea due to the solid ground layers, but from 2019 to June last year, 879 cases occurred nationwide?an average of one every two days?and the number is gradually increasing. Most of these common sinkhole accidents are known to be caused by issues with underground installations, such as damaged sewer pipelines. These causes are directly linked to the general reasons for sinkholes: when the underground space expands due to groundwater or the groundwater level rapidly drops, the ground cannot support itself and collapses.

Concluding his remarks, Councilor Oh explained the Heinrich Law, which states, "Before one major accident occurs, there are 29 minor accidents and 300 potential risks." He pointed out, "These current problems are by no means coincidental but are precursors to even more serious accidents."

Meanwhile, in Jinju City, two sinkholes with a diameter of 3 meters and a depth of 2 meters appeared on a four-lane road in Sangpyeong-dong at two-week intervals last September, partially closing the road. In 2018, a similar-sized sinkhole occurred nearby, causing damage to the rear wheels of a large truck. Fortunately, there have been no casualties so far.

Jinju City announced plans to invest 18 billion KRW this year in new sewer pipeline construction and maintenance projects to reduce the likelihood of sinkhole occurrences. However, concerns remain as another sinkhole with a diameter of 1 meter and a depth of 0.5 meters appeared nearby on the 14th of last month.

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