Large Sinkhole Caused 'Another' Ground Collapse
Just ten days after a large sinkhole occurred at the intersection of Dongnam-ro and Daemyung Elementary School in Myungil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul on the 24th of last month, another ground collapse has happened nearby.
Around 5:07 PM on the 2nd, a section of ground measuring 20 cm in width and 50 cm in depth sank down at an intersection in Gil-dong, Gangdong-gu. Unlike the previous incident where one motorcycle rider lost their life, there were no casualties this time.
However, with the same phenomenon reoccurring just 850 meters away from where the sinkhole occurred just ten days prior, concerns are rising that there may be similar issues throughout the surrounding terrain.
In response, the Gangdong District Office has initiated an investigation into the cause and recovery efforts.
Meanwhile, on the day of the incident at 10 AM, the Public Transport Workers' Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a press conference in front of Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, urging the Seoul city government to "disclose the ground subsidence safety map for the safety and lives of transport workers for whom the road is both home and workplace."
The map they requested to be made public is the ground subsidence safety map created by the city of Seoul, scientifically analyzing and quantifying the risk of ground subsidence and categorizing it into five levels of danger.
On this day, Park Jeong-hoon, Deputy Chairperson of the Public Transport Workers' Union, stated, "The area where the accident occurred is included in the special inspection targets due to the extension work of subway line 9 on the ground subsidence safety map created by Seoul City."
The city of Seoul, however, maintains its position that disclosing the map could create unnecessary misunderstandings and anxiety among citizens and contradicts the 'Seoul Special City Spatial Information Security Processing Regulations'.
Image source: Capture from X (formerly Twitter), Scene of the sinkhole accident near Daemyung Elementary School in Myungil-dong, Gangdong-gu, Seoul / News1, Members of the Public Transport Workers' Union hold a press conference demanding the immediate disclosure of the Seoul city sinkhole safety map in front of Seoul City Hall. / News1
