Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate, and Kim Moon-soo, People Power Party presidential candidate, said on the morning of the 17th regarding the fire that occurred at Kumho Tire's Gwangju plant, “I hope the damage is restored quickly.”
Candidate Lee Jae-myung visited the evacuation center for disaster victims set up at the Gwangju University Universiade Gymnasium at around 10 p.m. that day.
Candidate Lee noted, “It seems that residents are experiencing considerable inconvenience due to the sudden fire,” and added, “It seems there are also some injured workers at the factory; I hope they recover quickly.” He continued, “I hope residents can return home promptly, and I hope the soot damage is also restored quickly.”
After the election campaign committee meeting at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju's Seo-gu, candidate Kim Moon-soo met with reporters and said, “Fires, especially in labor sites, must be thoroughly prevented in the future, and I will work to ensure that such industrial accidents and fires in industrial sites do not occur.”
At around 7:11 a.m. that day, multiple reports were received at the Gwangju Fire Headquarters 119 Situation Room about a fire at Kumho Tire's Gwangju plant. As the flames grew, the fire authorities issued a national fire mobilization order at around 10 a.m. Around 8:50 p.m., Kim Kwan-ho, chief of the Gwangju Gwangsan Fire Station, stated, “Currently, 60% of Gwangju Plant 2 has burned, and we are controlling the main fire,” and added, “The overall firefighting success rate has exceeded 70%.”