[Q&A] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Issues Maximum Sanctions Including Deregistration to HDC Hyundai Development Company for ‘Gwangju Collapse Accident’

On the morning of the 28th, Kwon Hyuk-jin, Director General of the Construction Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, explained the follow-up measures including sanctions against those responsible and recurrence prevention plans related to the collapse accident of the Gwangju Seo-gu Hwajeong I-Park apartment, which occurred during construction by HDC Hyundai Development Company in January, at the Government Sejong Complex in Sejong City. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has requested Seoul City to revoke the construction business registration of HDC Hyundai Development Company or impose a one-year business suspension. This is to hold the company accountable for the collapse accident that occurred at the Hwajeong I-Park new construction site in Seo-gu, Gwangju on January 11. Furthermore, to prevent recurrence, the Ministry plans to revise the enforcement ordinance to reclaim some of the disciplinary authority previously delegated to local governments, allowing the Ministry to immediately take action in case of serious accidents.

Below is the Q&A from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport briefing.

Q. Is this the first request for registration revocation since the Seongsu Bridge collapse?

A. The registration revocation is the first such action under related laws since the Seongsu Bridge collapse accident. Other cases involved recommendations for business suspension.

Q. If the one-year business suspension is confirmed, what specific restrictions does the construction company face during that period?

A. If registration revocation or business suspension is imposed, new projects are restricted. However, ongoing projects that were contracted before can continue.

Q. How many cases of one-year business suspension have there been in the past?

A. There have been a total of 20 administrative actions due to poor construction. Among them, one was registration revocation and 19 were business suspensions, with four cases involving suspensions longer than six months.

Q. Why did the Ministry request both registration revocation and business suspension instead of just one?

A. Under Article 83, Clause 10 of the Construction Industry Basic Act, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has the authority, but the enforcement ordinance delegated this authority to local governments as registration authorities. Therefore, the Ministry could not directly impose certain sanctions. This time, the Ministry is pushing to amend the enforcement ordinance to restore the authority to the Minister in cases of serious accidents.

Q. So, with the system improvement, will the Ministry be able to directly impose business suspension or registration revocation for similar future accidents?

A. The Ministry will announce the legislative amendment to the enforcement ordinance of the Construction Industry Basic Act tomorrow. After the amendment, if a serious accident occurs due to intentional or negligent acts causing major public harm, the Ministry will be able to impose sanctions directly.

Q. The Hwajeong I-Park accident was recommended for action because it was judged to pose a public risk. Why was this not applied to last year's Hakdong accident? What is the difference?

A. In this accident, six workers died due to collapse, and there was property damage to nearby stores and vehicles. The high risk of additional casualties was considered. In contrast, the Gwangju Hakdong accident involved casualties during demolition, not due to collapse from poor construction caused by intentional or negligent acts, so Article 82, not Article 83 of the Construction Industry Basic Act, was applied.

Q. Regarding the one-strike-out system, Seoul City listens to the construction company's position through hearings. Does the Ministry have a separate procedure? Or is registration revocation automatic if deaths occur?

A. The one-strike-out system is something we plan to introduce. The Ministry will reclaim the authority to impose sanctions and can apply one-strike-out sanctions if five workers or three civilians die due to poor construction, but this requires legal amendment to be implemented. Seoul City has established a separate committee within the administrative office to ensure fairness, and we plan to prepare a similar procedure.

Q. Does the law require Seoul City to choose either registration revocation or one-year suspension? Or must both be applied together?

A. Seoul City must make the final choice. Under current law, the Ministry cannot definitively demand a specific sanction between registration revocation or business suspension for delegated authority. However, in cases like this accident, registration revocation is possible, and the Ministry has requested the strictest sanction considering the severity and public concern.

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