Seoul's Seongdong-gu said it activated an emergency response system the moment the Korea Meteorological Administration issued a "critical heat wave alert" — the highest tier of heat warning introduced for the first time this year — across the entire city Tuesday morning, mobilizing a full-scale effort to protect residents.
The district held an emergency heat wave response meeting at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the eighth-floor conference room of the district office, chaired by District Mayor Yu Bo-hwa. Representatives from 24 departments and agencies comprising the heat wave task force, including the Safety Management Division, attended to share response updates and conduct an intensive review of sector-by-sector measures and coordination tasks following the upgrade in the heat warning level.
Seongdong-gu said it will monitor weather conditions in real time and strengthen its situation management framework by expanding department-level heat response measures to prevent harm. The district plans to send emergency text alerts immediately, promote public safety guidelines on avoiding outdoor activity and preventing heat-related illness, and suspend or flexibly adjust midday outdoor events and outdoor sports facility operations.
The district will also pay close attention to vulnerable residents who may struggle during the heat wave. It plans to expand welfare checks, in-person visits and phone monitoring for some 6,500 heat-vulnerable individuals — including elderly people living alone, people with disabilities, homeless people and single-person households — while stepping up patrols in areas with high concentrations of homeless people.
Neighborhood cooling facilities will be managed without gaps. The district will conduct comprehensive inspections of heat shelter facilities, including 204 cooling centers, 56 smart shelters and an emergency refuge at the Chaengmaru space in the district office. It will also continuously verify that 172 shade structures and cooling fog systems are operating normally.
To ease the urban heat island effect on roads, the district will expand its fleet of water-spraying vehicles from six (four large, two small) to eight starting Wednesday, and will increase the routes and frequency of operation during peak heat hours.
Health centers will maintain a rapid medical response system in preparation for heat-related illness cases.
Safety management for outdoor workers and construction sites will also be tightened. Outdoor work during midday hours will in principle be suspended for district employees, and the district will inspect heat management conditions at district-contracted construction sites while actively guiding private construction sites and workplaces on compliance with safety rules.
Seongdong-gu said it will concentrate all administrative resources on preventing harm to residents and ensuring their safety, closely monitoring the heat wave situation and continuously reviewing sector-by-sector response systems going forward.
"A critical heat wave alert signals the highest level of heat danger, so we will put residents' lives and safety first and spare no effort in delivering a substantive response," District Mayor Yu said. "We will continuously check sector-by-sector response conditions until the heat wave subsides and keep residents' daily lives safe."
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