Social Disaster Countermeasures Act Initiated... Legislative Notice Begins on the 19th

40-Day Public Comment Period Until January 28 Next Year
Frequent Large-Scale Social Disasters in the Past Three Years
Draft Includes Special Preventive Measures and Monitoring Systems
Regulations from the Framework Act on Disasters to Be Transferred to New Law

The process to enact the “Social Disaster Countermeasures Act,” aimed at systematically managing social disasters such as building collapses, crowd accidents, and other large-scale incidents, has begun.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on December 18 that it will hold a 40-day legislative notice period for the draft Social Disaster Countermeasures Act, which stipulates matters related to the prevention, preparedness, response, and other measures for social disasters, from December 19, 2025, to January 28, 2026.

In recent years, a series of large-scale social disasters have caused significant national and societal damage, including the 2022 Itaewon disaster, last year’s passenger aircraft accident, and this year’s fire at the National Information Resources Service that paralyzed administrative information systems. As a result, the need for a separate law to respond to social disasters in a systematic and efficient manner has been continuously raised.

President Lee Jaemyung pledged to “enact legislation for the systematic management and response to the increasing number of social disasters,” and the government has promoted the enactment of the Social Disaster Countermeasures Act as a key policy task.

According to the draft, special preventive measures for social disasters will be established and implemented. In areas or facilities with a high risk of social disasters, the Minister of the Interior and Safety will establish special preventive measures, which will then be implemented by local governments. It is expected that social disasters can be more effectively prevented in facilities used or inhabited by safety-vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, the elderly, and children who have difficulty evacuating on their own, as well as in aging industrial complexes, areas with many vacant houses, and border regions.

To systematically prepare for social disasters, an early warning monitoring system will be established, and preparedness will be maintained according to the timing of disaster occurrences. Depending on the type of disaster, disaster management agencies and local governments will systematically establish monitoring methods and response measures for each type of crisis, and must respond swiftly if warning signs are detected.

Disaster management agencies must maintain a state of preparedness in advance for social disasters that frequently occur during specific periods, such as wildfires in spring and fires in winter. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and disaster management agencies will provide guidance and conduct inspections for this purpose.

If a social disaster occurs or is likely to occur, the response system for preventing damage and ensuring a swift recovery will be strengthened. Heads of local governments, police stations, coast guard offices, and fire stations may order facility managers and other stakeholders to suspend ongoing events or activities, or disperse crowds, in order to prevent casualties. If necessary, they may also take these actions directly.

In the event of large-scale damage, an integrated response system at both national and community levels will be established to ensure rapid disaster recovery. Heads of relevant agencies must establish collaborative systems for their respective areas of responsibility to support this effort.

In addition, regulations under the “Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety” that apply only to social disasters will be transferred to this new law, and existing problems in the current system will be improved.

The designation of “specific management target areas,” which was previously done by the heads of central administrative agencies and local governments, will now be directly designated by the Minister of the Interior and Safety from a comprehensive perspective. “Specific management target areas” refer to regions with a significantly high risk of disaster or those requiring ongoing management. For national key infrastructures such as energy and water supply, the Minister of the Interior and Safety may directly request the head of the relevant central administrative agency to designate them.

To prevent disasters and accidents caused by large gatherings, a “designation system for key management target crowd-gathering facilities” will also be introduced. When private entities hold local festivals, they will be required to establish a safety management plan and report it to the relevant local government.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Hojoong said, “Since protecting the lives and safety of the people is the nation’s top priority, we have prepared the Social Disaster Countermeasures Act to ensure that tragedies like the 10·29 Itaewon disaster or the 12·29 passenger aircraft accident never happen again in our society,” adding, “We will continue to improve and develop the national disaster safety management system going forward.”