"Refusal to Comply with Hiring Demands Leads to Construction Halt"… LH Requests Investigation into 51 Suspected Illegal Activities

Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) has secured suspected illegal cases occurring at construction sites and requested an investigation by the police. This is the second investigation request since filing criminal complaints in January.

LH announced on the 29th that it formed a dedicated task force (TF) in January to investigate illegal activities at 235 construction sites nationwide, and by the 28th, it had detected 51 suspected illegal acts at 18 construction sites, referring them for investigation on charges including extortion, coercion, and obstruction of business.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The suspected illegal acts mostly involved demands for money related to advance payments and development funds, totaling 15 cases, followed by ▲coercion to pay monthly fees for tower cranes (12 cases) ▲coercion for hiring (11 cases) ▲obstruction of business (8 cases) ▲others (5 cases).

At an actual LH A District apartment construction site, when a reinforced concrete subcontractor refused the construction union’s hiring coercion, the union collectively obstructed workers’ labor and controlled the access of foreign workers, causing a 100-day halt in construction.

At another apartment construction site, there were occurrences of hiring coercion by workers belonging to the construction union, as well as extortion of union fees and monthly tower crane fees. Refusal led to obstruction of construction work through site rallies, threats to non-union members, and filing complaints with administrative agencies.

LH plans to complete the investigation of illegal activities at construction sites nationwide by the end of this month and will take strict civil and criminal measures by type against any additionally uncovered suspected illegal acts.

Meanwhile, LH is monitoring actions such as work slowdowns by tower crane operators and, upon confirming illegal or unfair acts, is using regional headquarters TF field teams to report immediately.

LH is also considering measures to require construction companies to mandatorily hire tower crane operators. Previously, construction companies signed contracts with tower crane rental businesses, which then entered into employment contracts with the tower crane operators.

Additionally, LH is reviewing system improvements such as awarding bidding points and imposing reporting obligations when the construction industry voluntarily participates in eradicating illegal acts by reporting suspected illegal activities.

Lee Han-jun, President of LH, said, “This investigation request following the civil damages claim at the Changwon Myeonggok site is aimed at creating a safe and healthy construction culture in Korea,” adding, “LH will continue to take the lead in eradicating illegal activities at construction sites.”

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