Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Back-to-back fire tragedies prompt gov't review of fire safety rules
Inspectors look into the apartment unit in Busan, Thursday, after two sisters were killed in a fire. Newsis
By Jung Min-ho
Girls killed in fire while parents away in echo of similar accident in Busan
The presidential office on Friday ordered a thorough review of practical fire safety measures in residential buildings after the deaths of two girls in a Busan apartment fire on Wednesday ― mirroring a similar tragedy just a week ago.
“In relation to the tragic incidents in which children lost their lives due to a series of fires in Busan, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik told the head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination (OPC) to take sincere follow-up measures,” Kang Yu-jung, spokeswoman for President Lee Jae Myung, said at the office’s press briefing room.
High-level officials and staff were dispatched to Busan to comfort the bereaved family and to assess the “structural causes” behind the recurrence of such accidents, she added.
The two sisters, aged 8 and 6, were found dead after a fire that broke out at 10:58 p.m. on the building’s sixth floor in Gijang, a district in northeastern Busan. The results of autopsies on Friday showed that their deaths were caused by inhalation of toxic gases.
The fire happened just 20 minutes after their parents went out.
In a similar case that occurred at 4:15 a.m. on June 24, two sisters, aged 10 and 7, were killed in a fire that broke out in an apartment building located in the city’s Busanjin District. Their parents were working outside at the time of the accident, according to police.
At an emergency meeting held on the matter following the presidential office’s order, Yoon Chang-ryeol, head of the OPC, vowed to find ways to support working parents.
“The government feels a grave responsibility for not being able to safeguard our children,” Yoon said. “We will support parents who have no other option but to leave their children at home for work.”
One method under review is to expand late-night child care services to more families. Currently, 344 out of 4,000 child care centers nationwide are participating in a pilot program that offers such services beyond 8 p.m.
Another factor the two incidents have in common is that neither building had fire sprinkler systems installed.
“These accidents all occurred in apartment buildings approved for construction before 2005, when sprinkler installation was not yet required,” he said. “We will develop effective early-stage fire suppression methods for apartments without sprinklers and find ways to ensure that vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly, can escape in case of emergency.”
He also said his office will enhance fire safety and evacuation education for young children.