Operations of "Dongjak Star," the large slide installed inside Seoul's Dongjak-gu district office, have in effect been put on hold, and a full shutdown can no longer be ruled out.
Dongjak-gu is reviewing a scaled-back operating schedule for the slide after the transition committee for the incoming ninth elected district mayor requested a full operational review, citing safety and cost concerns. The request is understood to have been included in the transition committee's final report.
A Dongjak-gu official said the district is "currently reviewing various options, including reduced operating hours," adding that "nothing specific has been decided yet." Dongjak Star currently operates daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the slide running only during the first 20 minutes of each hour.
Dongjak Star is a towering slide designed in the shape of a tree, built in September last year at the suggestion of former District Mayor Park Il-ha. The structure spans an open-plan space across one below-ground floor and the first and second above-ground floors, standing 15 meters tall — equivalent to a five-story building. The first slide, designed for adults, runs 34 meters in total length; the second, for young children, measures 18 meters. Riders descend from the first and second floors on slide mats. A sign at the entrance reads: "This facility is an experiential sculpture open to everyone from children to adults. Infants and children must be accompanied by a guardian."
The permanent installation of a large slide inside a government office building was a first for the country, and Dongjak Star quickly became a nationally recognized attraction after opening. Some visitors took time off work to come, while others traveled from other parts of the country just to try it. According to figures released by Dongjak-gu, more than 50,000 people visited Dongjak Star in the six months from September last year through February this year.
But the slide's speed raised safety concerns from the start. Problems surfaced in the earliest weeks of operation. District council minutes from December last year show that four safety incidents occurred in September alone. Regarding those incidents, an official from the Dongjak-gu Facilities Management Corporation appeared before the district council's administrative and finance committee on Dec. 5 last year and said that some accidents happened because riders, frightened by the steep drop, raised their hands or threw their heads back — individual lapses triggered by shock. The official added that "the accidents were not caused by the facility itself."
Budget concerns have also come into focus. Dongjak Star cost 860 million won ($571,000) to build, and the district spends an additional 300 million won each year on staffing and concessions. At a district council plenary session on Dec. 23 last year, Dongjak-gu Assembly member Noh Seong-cheol raised the issue directly. "Dongjak-gu's budget is so tight that we could not even dream of launching new projects next year. Department directors and section chiefs ran around frantically arguing that not even 5 million won or 10 million won could be cut just to keep existing projects alive," he said. "Next year, 380 million won will go to Dongjak Star's operating costs alone. It is not just district residents using it. Who exactly are we spending all this money for?"
cook@heraldcorp.com
