The National Fire Agency Dispels Accusations Of Not Sending Enough Firefighters To Daejeon Factory Fire Due To BTS’s Gwanghwamun Concert
The National Fire Agency has responded to the controversy surrounding the difference in firefighter deployment between BTS’s Gwanghwamun concert and the Daejeon factory fire, refuting the claims.
On the 22nd of March, the agency issued a statement countering a report that claimed around 800 firefighters were deployed to the Gwanghwamun concert, while only about 200 were sent to a factory fire in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, where 14 people died.
The agency clarified that the actual number of personnel dispatched to the Daejeon factory fire was 733, not 200, explaining that the 200 figure referred only to the initial response stage. It emphasized that comparing the two situations as “800 vs. 200” is a clear factual error.
They further explained that “post-disaster response” and “pre-event crowd control” are fundamentally different and cannot be directly compared. Firefighter deployment is determined based on spatial characteristics and the scale of potential risk.
In the case of the Daejeon fire, which occurred in a single, confined building, sending too many personnel at once could cause severe congestion and actually hinder rescue operations.
The National Fire Agency countered: “Accordingly, we concentrated the maximum tactical personnel allowed for that space along with advanced special equipment such as unmanned firefighting robots and unmanned demolition water tower trucks. The Gwanghwamun performance site, however, is an ‘open large-scale space’ where hundreds of thousands of people gather. An uncontrolled massive crowd inherently carries the risk of secondary major disasters, such as stampedes. Out of the 800 personnel deployed to the performance site, 109 were administrative staff supporting situation management rather than on-site response personnel.”
They added: “The National Fire Agency will fulfill the state’s responsibility for both disaster response and the safety management of large-scale crowd events. We pray for the souls of those who lost their precious lives in the Daejeon factory fire and express our deep comfort and condolences to the bereaved families.”
Related: HYBE Issues An Apology Following BTS Gwanghwamun Concert
Meanwhile, BTS held their comeback show “BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG” on March 21 at Gwanghwamun Square, drawing an estimated crowd of about 40,000 people according to Seoul city or 104,000 people according to HYBE.
What do you think of their response?
Source: (A)
