Korail Violates Railroad Safety Act, Faces Record Fine of 1.92 Billion Won

Ministry of Land's 2nd Administrative Disposition Deliberation Committee Resolution
KORAIL's Second Fine in 40 Days
Seoul Metro Fine of 120 Million Won

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) and Seoul Metro were each fined 1.92 billion KRW and 120 million KRW respectively for seven violations of the Railroad Safety Act, including the death of railroad workers in the second half of last year, the power outage accident in the Tongbok Tunnel, and changes in work patterns.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 8th that it held the 2nd Administrative Disposition Deliberation Committee meeting chaired by the Railroad Safety Policy Officer the day before and resolved accordingly.

KTX-Sancheon / Photo by Korail

Previously, KORAIL was fined 1.8 billion KRW at the 1st Deliberation Committee meeting on January 26. This time, it was held responsible for six violation cases and was imposed with the highest level of fines in history.

Specifically, the fines were as follows: 720 million KRW for the power outage accident in the Tongbok Tunnel on the Suseo High-Speed Line; 360 million KRW for the death of an employee at Jungnang Station on the Jungang Line; 360 million KRW for the death of an employee at Jeongbalsan Station on the Ilsan Line; 240 million KRW for failure to comply with corrective action orders (installation of short-circuit lines); 120 million KRW for failure to comply with corrective action orders (improper management of maintenance logs); and 120 million KRW for unauthorized change in work pattern (from 3 shifts with 2 teams to 4 shifts with 2 teams).

The Tongbok Tunnel accident occurred at 5:03 PM on December 30 last year in the section between Jije Station and Namsan Junction on the Suseo-Pyeongtaek High-Speed Line. Carbon fiber used for tunnel defect repairs fell onto the overhead catenary system, causing a power outage and train malfunction, resulting in approximately 5.6 billion KRW in property damage and delays or cancellations of 189 trains. KORAIL violated the Railroad Safety Act by neglecting to review measures to prevent falling objects to ensure railroad operation safety when approving the track work plan for the tunnel defect repair project.

Regarding the two employee death accidents, the deliberation criteria applied included violations of the train monitor’s duties and failure of the work supervisor and railroad operation safety manager to comply with safety accident prevention rules. The Railroad Safety Act imposes a fine of 360 million KRW for one or more deaths. The fines for the two cases of failure to comply with corrective orders were due to unjustified failure to implement safety measures during track work and to maintain logs for overhead catenary wear management.

The unauthorized change in work patterns applied to both KORAIL and Seoul Metro. It was confirmed that KORAIL had unilaterally changed the work pattern to reduce train operation or maintenance personnel without approval of the railroad safety management system since August 2020, and Seoul Metro since March 2014. As of November last year, 91.9% (14,015 people) of KORAIL employees worked in a 4-shift, 2-team system. Railroad accidents increased from 40 cases in 2020 to 48 in 2021 and 67 in 2022.

Jung Chaekyo, Railroad Safety Policy Officer at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "It is an essential prerequisite to guarantee the lives and safety of the public and railroad workers that railroad operating organizations comply with the Railroad Safety Act and safety rules, and this must always be fulfilled."

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