On the afternoon of December 19, the Ministry of Environment (Minister Han Wha-jin) will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Community Chest of Korea (Chairman Kim Byong-joon) at Fraser Place Hotel (located in Jung-gu, Seoul) to enhance living environments and ensure health protection for vulnerable populations. 

This memorandum of understanding has been established based on the positive response to collaborative projects pursued by both institutions from 2022 to the present. It aims to expand related projects not only to local child centers but also to facilities used or inhabited primarily by vulnerable populations, such as child welfare facilities and facilities for people with disabilities. 

Therefore, both institutions have decided to provide support for environmental safety assessments for facilities used by vulnerable populations that use asbestos building materials, maintenance and improvement of facilities for vulnerable populations (asbestos dismantling, removal, remodeling), and education to enhance awareness and preventive behaviors regarding environmental hazards (such as asbestos).

Furthermore, the Ministry plans to strengthen asbestos safety management by promptly revising the 'Enforcement Decree of The Asbestos Safety Management Act' to designate local child centers as legally managed facilities. 

* Currently, the 'Asbestos Safety Management Act' applies only to buildings with a floor area of 500 square meters or more. The Ministry plans to include local child centers under the 'Asbestos Safety Management Act,' regardless of their floor area.

※ [Legal Obligations for Asbestos Buildings] 1) Designation of an asbestos building safety manager, 2) Investigation of the condition of asbestos buildings and the possibility of asbestos dispersion (every six months), 3) Measurement of asbestos concentration (every two years)

Meanwhile, since 2017, the Ministry has been promoting asbestos building safety pamphlets* and maintenance projects** for local child centers, facilities that provide welfare services such as education and play in collaboration with local communities, to enhance their environments. 

* Asbestos surveys have been completed for 1,390 locations ** Based on the asbestos survey results, maintenance has been completed for 383 locations 

In addition, to fundamentally address asbestos exposure issues in local child centers, the Ministry has collaborated with the private welfare organization, the Community Chest of Korea, since 2022 to implement a support program for the dismantling and removal of asbestos building materials. So far, 176 aging local child centers (approximately KRW 7 billion) have benefited from this initiative. 

Minister Han Wha-jin stated, "We will make further efforts, in collaboration with the Community Chest of Korea, to improve the living environment of facilities used or occupied by vulnerable populations." She added, "We will pursue various environmental cooperation projects to protect the health of vulnerable populations from environmental hazards."