The government will recruit more tech experts and personnel in a bid to beef up the safety of its high-speed train service that has suffered a series of accidents over the past few months, the Transportation Ministry said.

The ministry added that the government will operate a safety-management unit independently for the KTX high-speed train service. It will also shorten the period of replacing major components of trains in a precautionary measure.

The measures were unveiled as the state-run Korea Railroad, the operator of the KTX service, has come under heavy fire for a series of accidents, including abrupt stops and derailment over the past few months.

Though the accidents did not cause any human casualties, they were still enough to spark huge concerns about the safety of the high-speed service.

The ministry earlier blamed a part inappropriately repaired by a contract worker for the derailment of a KTX train on Feb. 11.

Failed communication between staff workers, a lack of safety awareness and a combination of human mistakes were also cited as reasons for the accident, underlining the need for reform of safety-related procedures.

The safety issue is drawing attention, especially when the government is seeking to expand the KTX service across the nation.

The government earlier announced that it will expand the train service across the country by connecting the nation‘s major cities with the KTX network by 2020. It expects to make it possible for people to travel anywhere in mainland Korea within one and a half hours by train. 

(Yonhap News)