Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Detects '5 Ineligible Companies' in Construction Projects Ordered by Affiliated Agencies

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 26th that, as a result of conducting intensive pre-inspections since April targeting companies participating in construction bids issued by affiliated and subordinate organizations, five suspected paper companies were detected, and the number of bidding companies decreased by 54%.

The crackdown on paper companies has been conducted since April on construction projects issued by 18 regional land offices and 6 subordinate organizations nationwide to establish a fair construction culture and ensure the quality and safety of construction works. The inspections are carried out by directly verifying on-site whether the companies meet construction business registration criteria, such as the status of technical personnel. The six subordinate organizations include LH, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea National Railway, Korea Railroad Corporation, Korea Airports Corporation, and Incheon International Airport Corporation. The focus is on regional restricted construction projects with an estimated construction amount of less than 200 million KRW.

From April to June, over approximately three months, a total of 66 inspections were conducted, resulting in five companies being identified as suspected paper companies. Administrative actions such as business suspension were requested to the competent authorities (local governments), and depending on the local governments' decisions, measures such as excluding these companies from winning bids will be taken.

During the same period, the number of companies participating in bids for projects not subject to inspection increased by 11%, whereas the number for inspected projects decreased by 54%. This is believed to be because paper companies without construction capabilities gave up participating in bids to avoid administrative sanctions resulting from the crackdown.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to maintain a continuous system for cracking down on paper companies while expanding the scope of inspections.

Park Hyo-cheol, head of the Fair Construction Promotion Team at the Ministry, stated, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will do its utmost to conduct effective on-site inspections and crackdowns to establish a fair construction culture and protect the opportunities for sound construction businesses to secure contracts."

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