Over the massive power outage that hit the entire Yeongjong International City area on July 13, Son Hwa-jeong, head of Incheon’s Yeongjong-gu District, visited the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) in person and strongly demanded a transparent investigation into the cause, fair compensation for damages and fundamental measures to prevent a recurrence.
 [The Korean Today] Head Son Hwa-jeong visits KEPCO Incheon Regional Headquarters to demand compensation for outage damage © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
On the afternoon of the 12th, Son held an emergency meeting with Lee Sang-won, head of KEPCO’s Incheon Regional Headquarters, at the utility’s Incheon office in Galsan-dong, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, and conveyed this position.
At the meeting, Son relayed to KEPCO the voices of residents and small business owners who suffered property and psychological damage during the outage — including people trapped in elevators and food ingredients that had to be discarded — amid the ongoing heat wave, and stressed that responsible follow-up measures must be taken.
Son in particular took direct issue with the ‘minor-negligence compensation cap’ clause contained in KEPCO’s guidelines for filing outage-damage claims. She demanded that KEPCO clearly present the legal and institutional basis for classifying the outage as minor negligence before a clear investigation result had even been produced, and for stating, based on its internal terms, that it would only compensate victims up to a maximum of 10 times their electricity bill for the preceding three months.
“Applying this standard will inevitably result in compensation amounts that fall short for the victims,” Son said. “Clear and fair criteria are needed so that residents are not disadvantaged by a narrowed scope of compensation or unequal compensation standards.”
 [The Korean Today] Head Son Hwa-jeong meets with KEPCO Incheon Regional Headquarters Chief Lee Sang-won © Reporter Kim Mi-hee |
She went on to request that KEPCO thoroughly determine the exact cause and full facts of the incident and transparently disclose the results to residents. She pointed out that once the cause is clearly established, compensation should not stop at a formality but should be fair and substantive, reflecting not only the actual damage incurred but also the secondary and tertiary indirect damage arising during the recovery process. She also urged KEPCO to move beyond stopgap responses to establish thorough measures to prevent recurrence, and to swiftly present fundamental plans to expand power infrastructure capable of stably supporting surging electricity demand.
“The property and psychological damage residents suffered from the sudden power outage is very significant,” Son said. “As a public corporation that holds a monopoly over the essential public service of power supply, KEPCO must fulfill unlimited responsibility commensurate with that authority.” She added, “Through continued consultations with KEPCO, we will thoroughly ensure that residents receive fair compensation and that a stable power supply environment is established. Yeongjong-gu will stand by residents to the end to secure their rightful interests, and will not stop responding until safe daily life is fully restored.”
Separately from compensation talks with KEPCO, Yeongjong-gu is also carrying out its own administrative procedures to assist residents. Since the 3rd, it has been operating an ‘Outage Damage Claims Center’ at the district office’s Economic Support Division and the Yeongjong-dong, Yeongjong 1-dong and Yeongjong 2-dong community welfare centers, and on the 25th it plans to offer special free legal consultations for affected residents. In addition, from the 24th to the 28th, it will jointly inspect emergency power generation facilities at large apartment complexes and large stores in the district together with the Korea Electrical Safety Corp.
[ Reporter Kim Mi-hee: incheonsouth@thekoreantoday.com ]
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