Seongdong-gu Enacts Ordinance to Support Organizations for Crowd Accident Prevention and Safety Management

Seoul District Establishes Ordinance to Strengthen Public-Private Cooperation in Safety, Laying Institutional Foundation...Nation's First Safety Organization Support Project for Crowd Accident Prevention to Encourage Private Group Collaboration

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jung Won-oh) has enacted an ordinance that regulates support for organizations engaged in crowd accident prevention activities, the first of its kind nationwide.

Following a series of unexpected disasters such as the Itaewon tragedy, the collapse of Jeongja Bridge, and the Osong underpass disaster, cooperation with the private sector is essential for proactive disaster monitoring and rapid response. Accordingly, Seongdong-gu took the initiative to establish an ordinance that explicitly designates crowd accident prevention activities as a safety organization support project to assist organizations involved in such activities.

Seongdong-gu submitted the draft ordinance titled "Seoul Special City Seongdong-gu Disaster and Safety Management Organization Support Ordinance" to the district council, which was approved as originally proposed at the 2nd plenary session of the 275th extraordinary meeting on October 20.

The ordinance primarily provides administrative and financial support to organizations with at least one year of experience in disaster and safety management activities. The support projects include ▲various disaster and safety accident prevention activities, life-saving and recovery efforts ▲crowd accident prevention and monitoring activities ▲various investigations related to disaster and safety ▲safety education and training ▲campaigns and publicity to raise safety awareness ▲discovery and dissemination of best practices in safety culture ▲safety inspections and maintenance projects.

This ordinance, the first enacted by a Seoul metropolitan district, is scheduled to be promulgated in early November and is expected to contribute to the revitalization of safety-related organizations. Furthermore, by explicitly including "crowd accident prevention and monitoring activities" as a support project for the first time nationwide, it sets a direction for the activities of safety-related organizations and aims to encourage active cooperation from private organizations in preventing crowd accidents.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, "Experiencing the Itaewon tragedy has shown that a whole-society approach is essential for disaster management," adding, "Based on institutional foundations such as the enactment of this ordinance, we will improve awareness of disasters and strengthen public-private cooperation systems for proactive risk management."