The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Monday that it would create a safety management system for underground spaces amid increasing concerns over the occurrence of sinkholes in Seoul and other parts of the country.

The ministry will draw up an integrated 3-D map of the country’s underground structures in an effort to develop a standard system to manage its underground infrastructure and prevent accidents.

It will include information regarding subways, underground water and sewage utilities.

This comes after several underground hollows were recently found in southern Seoul.

The ministry said that serious land subsidence had not been detected during its special inspection of other major underground construction sites.

“Most of the sinkholes that have formed in the country appeared to have been caused by human error,” said a ministry official, referring to sinkholes found in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and Incheon.

Experts in the inspection team added that the country has a low probability of witnessing massive naturally occurring sinkholes as its land mostly consists of hard underlying rocks like granite and gneiss.

(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)