[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced Tuesday it will conduct a nationwide overhaul of bollards — posts installed to block vehicle access — that pose safety hazards or obstruct pedestrians.

Bollards are installed at crosswalks and pedestrian islands to prevent vehicles from entering sidewalks and to ensure safe passage for pedestrians.

Under relevant regulations, bollards must stand 80 to 100 centimeters tall, measure 10 to 20 centimeters in diameter, be spaced roughly 1.5 meters apart and be made of shock-absorbing materials.

Concerns have long been raised that some bollards — made of hard materials such as granite, built too low to be easily seen, or spaced too narrowly — endanger pedestrians and impede their movement rather than protecting them.

The ministry said it will focus on replacing stone bollards that cannot absorb impact, bollards too short to be visible, and those installed in the middle of walkways or at excessively narrow intervals. Damaged bollards that have shifted or tilted will also be replaced, and new ones will be installed where vehicle access needs to be blocked.

To support the effort, the ministry will run a month-long public reporting campaign throughout August, allowing citizens to flag noncompliant bollards through the Safety Sinmungo, a government safety reporting platform. Reports received will inform on-site inspections and the selection of sites for maintenance.

Park Hyeong-bae, director general of the ministry's Safety Prevention Policy Bureau, said the overhaul aims to "restore bollards to their core function of protecting pedestrians from vehicles, while at the same time creating a safer walking environment."


thlee@heraldcorp.com