Yang Bum Nam: "One in Three Emergency Bell Activations Is a Malfunction"
Yang Bum Nam Proposes Amendments to Five Laws
Aimed at Reducing Police Resource Waste
from False Emergency Bell Reports and Malfunctions
Yang Bum Nam, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Gwangju Seo-gu-eul), announced on August 28 that he has sponsored amendments to five laws?the Act on Public Restrooms, the Urban Park and Green Space Act, the Act on the Promotion of Pedestrian Safety and Convenience, the Civil Petition Processing Act, and the Medical Service Act?to address the issue of police resources being wasted due to false emergency bell reports and malfunctions.
According to Assemblyman Yang, over the past five years (from 2021 to the end of June 2025), emergency bells were activated a total of 1.05 million times in public restrooms and similar locations nationwide. Of these, 386,000 cases (36.7%) were found to be false reports or malfunctions.
This repeated drain on police resources has raised concerns that it could also hinder police response to other urgent situations.
However, while the current Act on Public Restrooms imposes a general obligation for regular inspections of public restrooms, it does not clearly stipulate the duty to inspect and improve safety facilities such as emergency bells for false reports or malfunctions.
The proposed amendments would require local government heads to check the operational status and maintenance of safety facilities such as emergency bells, including instances of false reports and malfunctions. The police or relevant agencies would be able to request improvements, and local government heads would be required to take necessary actions reflecting these requests and report the outcomes to the relevant police station or agency.
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Assemblyman Yang emphasized, "An emergency bell may be a small device, but it can protect the lives and safety of the public in critical situations. We must strengthen cooperation among relevant agencies to reduce the waste of police resources caused by malfunctions and false reports, while ensuring public safety."
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