What Changed After the Daejeon Factory Fire
On March 20, 2026, a fire at an auto parts plant in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, killed 14 people. The fire spread quickly through an illegally extended section and a high-ceiling equipment area. From March 30 to April 17, the government ran joint emergency inspections of 2,865 sites with high-risk processes such as cutting, forging and heat treatment. Inspectors checked dust collectors, illegal extensions, hazardous material handling and training.
On July 31, the Ministers' Meeting on Economic Affairs announced the Factory Fire Safety Plan. Its centerpiece is the first government-wide survey of 190,000+ factory and warehouse buildings nationwide.
Four Pillars: Regulation, Funding, Finance and Tax
Regulation: The government plans to require non-combustible cladding on new factories and hazardous material facilities, along with intelligent fire detectors and sprinklers. Some reports cite a December 2026 start date, but actual timing depends on each stage of the legal amendments.Existing sites: Automatic fire-suppression devices will be rolled out in phases to about 20,000 high-risk sites that have no sprinklers.Funding: A new KRW 200 billion program (2027–2031) will subsidize fire and explosion prevention equipment and the installation or replacement of fire protection systems.Finance: KRW 1.25 trillion in "Zero Fire Safety Investment Loans" will be available to SMEs and mid-sized firms over five years.Tax (under review): Proposals include designating AI- and robot-based safety technologies as new-growth/core technologies, cutting the useful life of SME safety equipment by 50% for accelerated depreciation, and a 10% corporate tax credit on large companies' contributions to supplier fire prevention. None of these is in the tax code yet, so don't count on them.Reports also mention repeated enforcement fines for violations and a reward system for reporting them, but no amounts have been finalized.
The Smart Factory View: Fire Is an Equipment Data Problem
Most factory fires give warning signs first: rising differential pressure and temperature in dust collectors, heat treatment furnaces drifting from setpoint, overheating motors and bearings, arcing or overcurrent in distribution panels. Your equipment sensors are often already recording these signals.
Intelligent fire detectors: Video analytics or combined heat/smoke/gas sensing can tell flame and smoke apart, so they cause far fewer false alarms than single-sensor heat or smoke detectors. That matters a lot on sites full of dust and vapor.Integration: If you tie MES, FEMS and predictive maintenance data into fire alarms, you don't need yet another standalone system. A good first step is to add thresholds and alarm rules to the current and temperature data you already collect.Unmanned and night shifts: Pair remote alerts (SMS or app) with interlocks that shut down equipment automatically when something abnormal is detected. Hours with no one on site carry the highest risk.Process-by-Process Checkpoints
Dust collection and cutting
How often duct deposits are cleaned, and whether explosion-proof equipment is usedSpark detection and extinguishing systems that stop embers before they reach the collectorHeat treatment and forging
Quench oil temperature monitoring and preparedness for oil surface firesImmediate alarms when furnace temperature control goes out of rangePainting and washing
Flammable vapor detection linked automatically to ventilationBattery charging areas
Thermal runaway monitoring (temperature and gas) where AMRs and electric forklifts charge, plus compartmentation and safe separation distancesA Roadmap for the Survey and the Subsidies
Before the survey: Check that your building register matches actual extensions and changes of use, and organize hazardous material inventories and fire system inspection records.Ahead of the 2027 subsidy call: Prepare priorities and quotes by high-risk process. The existing smart safety equipment program focuses on caught-in and crushing hazards, so confirm how the two programs divide their scope and whether you can benefit from both.Timing your investment: Whether to invest by year-end or wait for the 2027 call depends on whether the tax incentives such as accelerated depreciation are finalized, and whether subsidies will cover purchases made earlier.If you supply a large company: Ask your customer whether it runs a supplier fire prevention support program.How KITIM Can Help
KITIM covers the whole process: fire risk assessment by process, IoT fire monitoring design, applications that link smart factory and safety programs, and matching with policy financing such as the Zero Fire loans. If you're not sure where to start ahead of the survey and the 2027 call, contact KITIM for a consultation. We'll help you set priorities that fit your site.
