Nearly half of Seoul's apartments lack sprinklers despite fire risks

Nearly half the apartments and multi-household buildings in Seoul lack sprinkler systems, raising safety concerns after a series of fires at older complexes. Of the 4,067 apartment and commercial-residential complexes in the capital, 1,874, or 46.1 percent, lacked sprinkler systems, according to National Fire Agency data revealed by Rep. Lee Sang-sik of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Even among complexes that did have sprinklers, only 25.7 percent had them installed across all buildings,