The government said Tuesday that it will inspect railroads, airports and other infrastructure to strengthen safety and preempt any possible accidents.
The government said it could mobilize about 100 safety personnel for safety checks of infrastructure, including power plants, the power grid, storage facilities for chemicals and oil, and hospitals.
Hong Nam-ki (Yonhap)
"We must cut off the vicious cycle of recurrent accidents," Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, said in a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, calling public safety a top priority.
The ministry also plans to oversee all public companies in South Korea.
The government has been under intense fire after a series of accidents in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, President Moon Jae-in called for increased efforts to prevent industrial accidents following the death of a young temporary inspector at a thermal power plant.
The 24-year-old subcontract worker was killed in a conveyor belt accident at the power plant in Taean, about 150 kilometers south of Seoul, on Dec. 11.
The accident laid bare poor working conditions of non-regular workers, who are often assigned to dangerous sites without sufficient training and relevant safety equipment.
Other accidents include the derailment of a KTX bullet train run by the Korea Railroad Corp. and the bursting of old heating pipes operated by the Korea District Heating Corp. (Yonhap)
