Gwangju City Conducts Safety Inspections of Unauthorized Buildings to Prepare for Summer Disasters

Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Gi-jung) is making thorough preparations for the summer rainy season and typhoons.

On the 24th, Gwangju City announced that it is conducting safety inspections on 103 unauthorized buildings vulnerable to disasters.

The inspection targets are unauthorized buildings detected in the area where people reside and that are highly vulnerable to collapse and disasters.

This inspection involves structural experts from the Korea Society of Structural Engineers Honam Branch and the Architectural Safety Advisory Group of the Architectural Safety Center, following prior consultations.

They check ground conditions such as subsidence and cracks, structural member deflections and cracks inside and outside the buildings, risk factors, and whether protective measures against soil erosion and collapse are in place.

If risk factors are found, Gwangju City will immediately address those that can be corrected on-site, and for unauthorized buildings, the city plans to notify the building owners to voluntarily demolish them through correction orders.

As the frequency of heavy rains increases and typhoons become stronger, Gwangju City emphasizes the importance of preventing disasters at vulnerable facilities. The city plans to send disaster alert messages to residents living in disaster-vulnerable unauthorized buildings when typhoon watches and warnings are issued, ensuring thorough prior prevention.

Park Geum-hwa, Director of the Architecture and Landscape Division, said, “Through joint public-private inspections of unauthorized buildings in preparation for the rainy season, we will remove risk factors caused by heavy rains and typhoons in advance and strive to respond proactively to disaster risks.”