Ground Exploration to Expand from 8,000 km This Year to 14,000 km by 2026

Enforcement Decree of the Underground Safety Act Amended and Approved at Cabinet Meeting

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the amended Enforcement Decree of the Underground Safety Act was approved at a Cabinet meeting on the 23rd and will take effect starting from the 30th.

With this amendment, the Ministry will now be able to select areas for ground subsidence site investigations or entrust ground exploration work to the Korea Infrastructure Safety and Technology Corporation. Beginning next year, the Ministry stated that it plans to systematically conduct ground exploration by prioritizing site investigations based on accumulated data such as ground subsidence history, excavation work information, and geological data.

Last March, a ground subsidence occurred across four lanes near the intersection close to Daemyeong Elementary School in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. 2025. 03. 25 Photo by Dongju Yoon

Starting this year, the Ministry has launched a project to support ground exploration for local governments that lack sufficient budget and personnel. This measure addresses the varying response capabilities of local governments depending on their financial resources. The Ministry expects that, by combining central government-led investigations with support for local governments, the total length of ground exploration conducted nationwide will increase significantly.

The length of ground exploration increased from 2,308 kilometers last year to 8,060 kilometers this year. It is expected to reach 11,380 kilometers next year, 14,000 kilometers the following year, and up to 15,000 kilometers in 2028.

Kim Taebyeong, Director of Technical Safety Policy at the Ministry, stated, "With the establishment of both a rapid government-led investigation system and a professional agency delegation system, we can now effectively prevent ground subsidence risks anywhere in the country. Moving forward, we will strengthen efforts to protect the lives and property of the public by expanding underground safety policies based on data analysis."