[The Editors' Verdict] SOC Is Aging Too

It is not only our society that is aging. Houses are also deteriorating. Along with this, various social overhead capital (SOC) facilities necessary for our daily lives are aging as well. Roads, railways, ports, dams, reservoirs, and communication facilities fall into this category.

Aging requires preparation. As concerns about a super-aged society, including the risk of population extinction, grow, the government has organized the Low Fertility and Aging Committee and announced measures to encourage childbirth as a response. The government is also implementing various measures for aging houses. It has actively taken steps to build more new houses faster, such as exempting reconstruction safety inspections and designating first-phase new town pilot districts.

However, there is little interest in the aging of facilities. Infrastructure is being neglected without any significant countermeasures. Among the 383,281 infrastructures nationwide, one-quarter (25.2%, 96,753) are classified as facilities over 30 years old since completion (2020?2023, Infrastructure Census). Facilities over 20 years old account for 51.2% (196,325). Almost all reservoirs have been built over 30 years ago (96.5%, 16,708). More than half of communication facilities (64.4%, 130) and nearly half of dams (44.9%, 62) are classified as aging facilities.

When facilities age, safety issues arise. Most facilities over 30 years old are classified as E-grade (poor), which means they have serious defects and should be prohibited from use, or D-grade (insufficient), which requires urgent repair or reinforcement. This means that facilities that could significantly threaten the safety or convenience of the public in emergencies are scattered throughout the country.

However, the government seems to show little interest. Next year’s SOC budget has been reduced compared to this year. The total government expenditure for next year is 677.4 trillion won, an increase of 20.8 trillion won (3.2%), but among 12 expenditure sectors, SOC is the only one with a reduced budget. The SOC budget is allocated 25.4825 trillion won, which is 9.597 billion won (3.6%) less than this year. It is the only sector among the 12 expenditure categories with a budget decrease. The SOC budget accounts for only 3.7% of total expenditure.

When the budget decreases, the ability to respond to facility aging inevitably declines. Experts warn that if this situation of budget shortage continues without new facility supply for major infrastructures, about half of all facilities will remain over 30 years old by 2032 (Eom Geun-yong, Research Fellow at the Construction Industry Research Institute).

The government must take action to prevent facility aging. Even if efforts are made to increase birth rates and supply new houses, if reservoirs overflow, dams burst, and roads or railways are washed away, it cannot be called a good country to live in. Considering that the frequency of extreme climate changes such as heavy snow, heavy rain, heat waves, and earthquakes is gradually increasing, the likelihood of such disasters is growing. These disasters cost more to restore than the damage itself. According to the disaster yearbook released earlier this year, the restoration cost due to natural disasters over the past 10 years reached 993.66 billion won, while the damage cost was only 319.45 billion won. It is a critical time for the government to build consensus on responding to SOC aging.