The Seoul Metropolitan Government will conduct an additional review of the safety of the steel roof structure at Gocheok Sky Dome and carry out reinforcement work on a sauna facility at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The city also plans to reconfirm the structural safety of the main stadium at Jamsil Sports Complex by factoring in measurements of the steel's actual strength.
The city announced the follow-up measures on the 23rd, responding to the Board of Audit and Inspection's criticism on the 22nd of lax safety management at major sports facilities. Reinforcement work on 97 steel roof trusses at Gocheok Sky Dome was completed in March this year, and the Korean Society of Steel Construction is scheduled to review the adequacy of the reinforcement method in November.
The audit board had found that connections in the dome's steel roof trusses were reinforced on only one side, contrary to the findings of a detailed safety inspection, leaving the supporting capacity insufficient. The September 2025 inspection had recommended a Y-shaped method for 12 of the 23 deformed trusses and steel plate reinforcement for the remaining 11.
The city said the Y-shaped method was difficult to install because of interference with the roof cables, and that it changed the approach to steel plate reinforcement after four rounds of expert advisory meetings. It reinforced a total of 97 trusses, including the 23 deformed ones and 74 surrounding trusses.
In August this year, the city installed 29 artificial intelligence-based monitoring devices to track deformation of the steel roof in real time. It also reduced the load from suspended equipment such as performance lighting and sound systems. In November, it will carry out an additional review of the reinforcement method, taking into account loads from disaster conditions such as heavy snowfall.
The city also rejected the finding that it had arbitrarily applied a lower wind load when designing the remodeling of the main stadium at Jamsil Sports Complex. Seoul's position is that the wind load was calculated according to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport standards, and that a wind tunnel test conducted this year confirmed the 2022 design value was appropriate. The city will nonetheless reconfirm the structure's final safety after factoring in measurements of the actual strength of the steel roof.
At Seoul World Cup Stadium, the load of a 120-ton sauna facility was omitted from a detailed safety inspection in 2022. The city said the supporting capacity of the beams beneath the sauna was found to be partly insufficient, and that it will conduct a structural review this year before carrying out the necessary reinforcement work.
Fire response equipment will also be upgraded. Gocheok Sky Dome and Seoul World Cup Stadium will complete work this year to separate excess loads from emergency generators. At Jangchung Arena, the control panel for a generator that also serves firefighting systems has been replaced.
"We will carefully manage not only the safety inspections and reinforcement measures now under way but also the follow-up steps, to ensure citizens can use sports facilities with peace of mind," a Seoul city official said.