SEOUL - A fatal sinkhole that opened in the middle of a busy street in Seoul on March 24 is raising new alarms about the growing risk of ground collapses in South Korea’s ever-developing urban centers.
As cities across the country expand underground infrastructure — from subways to drainage systems — concerns are growing over whether safety regulations are keeping pace.
The most recent incident occurred on March 24 evening, when a massive sinkhole, roughly 20m wide, suddenly swallowed a section of road spanning five traffic lanes in Myeongil-dong, an eastern neighborhood in Gangdong-gu, Seoul.
The collapse happened at 6.29pm, just as traffic was peaking. A motorcyclist in his 30s was buried under the debris and his body was found by authorities nearly 17 hours later.
Another driver, who had narrowly passed through the area seconds before the road gave way, was injured.
The tragedy comes just three months after the Seoul Metropolitan Government introduced a set of measures aimed at preventing sinkholes, following a string of collapses in the summer last year. This included incidents in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, as well as near Seoul’s Jongno 5-ga and Korea University subway stations.
While sinkholes are a global issue, their rising frequency and scale in South Korea is reportedly tied closely to the country’s urban development. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Underground Safety Information System, 1,345 sinkhole-related accidents were reported across the country between 2018 and March 25, 2025.
The majority of these incidents have occurred in highly urbanised areas. Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, recorded the highest number with 291 cases, followed by Gwangju (155), Busan (133) and Seoul itself (115). In many cases, the collapses have been linked to unstable soil conditions caused by construction, groundwater shifts, or aging underground utilities such as water and sewage pipes.
Sinkholes are especially common during two critical seasons: spring, when frozen ground thaws, and summer, when heavy rains soak and erode underground soil. Government data shows that, since 2018, nearly 76 per cent of all sinkhole incidents occurred during these two periods alone — 371 cases in spring and 647 in summer.
A particularly notorious case occurred in 2014, when six sinkholes appeared near Seokchon Lake in Songpa-gu, Seoul, close to the construction site of Lotte World Tower. Investigations blamed excavation work and mismanagement of groundwater, and the case prompted lawmakers to introduce legal safeguards.
More recently, in August last year, a sinkhole in Seoul’s Yeonhui-dong injured two people after swallowing a section of road measuring 4m wide, 6m long, and 2.5m deep. Experts then cited a combination of factors, including heavy summer rainfall, loss of soil under the surface, and nearby construction affecting groundwater levels.
In September last year, another large sinkhole in Busan overturned both a fire truck and a five-ton cargo vehicle, though no injuries were reported. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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