Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said April 24 that delays in the city’s deep underground rainwater tunnel program contributed to flood damage in 2022, blaming a previous mayor for halting most of the plan.
“Only one was completed in Sinwol-dong, and the rest of the plan was all stopped,” Oh said after visiting the Gwanghwamun tunnel construction site earlier in the day to check progress. He said a plan set in 2010 was not carried out, leading to the 2022 flood damage.
The deep underground rainwater storage and drainage tunnel project is part of a comprehensive storm and flood response plan Oh prepared in 2011 after casualties in a landslide on Umyeonsan in Seoul’s Seocho district. The plan called for building 20 kilometers of deep drainage tunnels at seven flood-prone areas in Seoul, including Gwanghwamun. During the tenure of former Mayor Park Won-soon, six of the seven sites were scrapped, with Sinwol-dong the exception.
Oh also acknowledged criticism that the project is costly. “It’s a project that requires significant funding,” he said, adding that if it had proceeded as planned in 2010, “we wouldn’t have had to spend 3 billion won, 5 billion won at a time.”
He said views can differ because the project is meant as a precaution, but stressed that steady investment is needed over the next five to six years, with completion targeted for the first half of 2030.
Seoul is pursuing six deep tunnel sites in two phases: Phase 1 covering the Gangnam Station, Gwanghwamun and Dorimcheon areas, and Phase 2 covering the Sadang Station, Hangang-ro and Gil-dong areas.
Oh also said he plans to register as a preliminary candidate for Seoul mayor on April 27 and begin a full-scale campaign.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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