Assemblyman Jo O-seop: "Hyundai Development Company Again Performs Poor Construction on Honam High-Speed Railway"

KR, Cause of Penalty Avoidance Due to Expired Defect Observation Period
Repair Completed Only on Section 1/11 Despite Exceeding Allowable Settlement Amount

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Kang-wook] Hyundai Development Company, which faced controversy over poor construction in the Gwangju Hakdong disaster, also carried out substandard construction in the Honam High-Speed Railway project. However, the Korea Rail Network Authority (hereinafter KR) overlooked this and did not even impose penalty points, raising criticism.

On the 12th, Cho Oh-seop, a member of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party belonging to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, stated at the National Assembly audit of the Korea Rail Network Authority held at the Korea Railroad Corporation building in Daejeon, "KR held a penalty review committee meeting on April 6 and decided to cancel the penalty points imposed on Hyundai Development Company (50%) and two other companies, as well as two supervision contractors, for confirmed poor construction in Section 3-4 of the Honam High-Speed Railway."

The first phase of the Honam High-Speed Railway (Osong to Gwangju Songjeong) has experienced subsidence exceeding the allowable limit (30mm) in the earthwork section constructed with concrete tracks (55.6 km), with 97 locations (24.8 km) currently undergoing defect repairs.

In July 2020, the Board of Audit and Inspection notified KR to impose penalty points on Hyundai Development Company and two other construction companies in Section 3-4, four construction companies including Company A in Section 2-1, and supervision companies for confirmed poor construction in the first phase of the Honam High-Speed Railway.

Rep. Cho explained, "These companies used poor embankment materials and neglected compaction during embankment subgrade construction, contrary to the construction specifications, resulting in subsidence exceeding allowable standards even before the opening of the Honam High-Speed Railway, and residual subsidence has been confirmed annually after opening."

Penalty points of 2 points were imposed on Hyundai Development Company and two other construction companies in Section 3-4, and on Company A and three other construction companies in Section 2-1 (as of February 1, 2021). However, the penalty points imposed on Hyundai Development Company and two other companies were canceled on the grounds that the defect liability period (May 2014 to April 2019.40) had expired according to the Enforcement Decree of the Construction Technology Promotion Act.

Regarding this, Rep. Cho argued, "However, the defect occurrence period in Section 3-4 was from 2015 to 2016, the strict warning from KR to the construction and supervision companies was in March 2015, and the repair date was November 2018, meaning that the defect occurrence, warning, and repair all took place within the defect liability period."

He added, "Furthermore, in 11 sections of Section 3-4, the maximum subsidence ranged from 42 to 108 mm, seriously exceeding the allowable limit (30 mm), but only one section was fully repaired, and the remaining 10 sections have not undergone repair work."

Ultimately, Rep. Cho's side claims that KR, knowing Hyundai Development Company's poor construction and responsibility, overlooked the issue and thus provided grounds for the cancellation of penalty points.

Rep. Cho said, "Hyundai Development Company, the perpetrator of the Gwangju Hakdong disaster, also performed poor construction in the Honam High-Speed Railway subgrade work, but KR overlooked this until receiving the penalty imposition notice from the Board of Audit and Inspection," adding, "KR's complacent and incompetent management of the Honam High-Speed Railway construction caused Hyundai Development Company's brazenness in seeking to have penalty points canceled despite poor construction."

Meanwhile, KR contracted with Hyundai Development Company (50%) and three other companies for a total of 212.8 billion KRW to carry out subgrade work for Section 3-4 of the Honam High-Speed Railway (Baeksanyeon to Seojeong-dong, Gimje-si, Jeonbuk) over 10.980 km from November 2009 to April 2014.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.