President Yoon Suk Yeol has offered prayers for the nine people who lost their lives after a vehicle plowed into pedestrians near Seoul City Hall late Monday and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

Presiding over a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Yoon addressed the tragic incident, in which four others were also injured.

The tragedy occurred just one week after a deadly lithium battery plant fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, which killed 23 people and injured eight others.

The president, who had visited the scene of the fire, expressed regret that the nation's firefighting technology and safety awareness have fallen behind the rapid growth of new industries, which involve more complex and evolving dangers.

Yoon called for a thorough investigation into the types and causes of fires in new industries, such as the battery industry, to develop more "scientific" safety response measures and advance detection technologies based on artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and sensor technology.