1,306 Emergency Dispatches for Power Outage Incidents in 5 Years... Concentrated in Summer Months

Won Kim: "Seasonal Analysis and Proactive Response Needed"

Won Kim, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

In the past five years, there have been approximately 1,300 emergency dispatches due to power outage incidents, with nearly half of these occurring during the summer months.

According to data submitted by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Won Kim (Mokpo, Jeonnam) from the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation on September 30, a total of 1,306 emergency dispatches for power outage incidents were recorded between 2020 and 2024. Of these, 542 dispatches took place during the summer months of June to August, accounting for 41.5% of the total.

By year, the numbers were as follows: 144 cases (48%) in 2020, 96 cases (38%) in 2021, 111 cases (42%) in 2022, 87 cases (42%) in 2023, and 107 cases (38%) in 2024. Each year, more than one out of every three dispatches occurred during the summer. Notably, in September 2020, 83 cases were reported due to the impact of Typhoon Maysak and a heat wave.

The primary cause of power outage incidents was aging or malfunctioning equipment, which accounted for 1,039 cases (79.5%). This was followed by Korea Electric Power Corporation line failures with 170 cases (13%), natural disasters with 65 cases (5%), and human factors with 32 cases (2.6%).

Won Kim stated, "The recurring power outage incidents every summer are a clear example of how vulnerable our preventive management of electrical equipment is." He emphasized, "We need to analyze the types of incidents by season and strengthen on-site response capabilities to establish a proactive electrical safety system."

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