Suspended Sentence for Representative of Illegal Subcontractor in Gwangju Hakdong Disaster

The representative of the demolition subcontractor responsible for the collapse of a building in Gwangju Hakdong 4 District was found guilty of illegal subcontracting.

On the 15th, Judge Kim Ji-yeon of the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 6 announced that Kim (52), the CEO of Hansol Enterprise, who was indicted for violating the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation.

The Hansol Enterprise corporation was also fined 20 million won.

Kim was charged with illegally subcontracting the general building demolition work to Baeksol Enterprise after receiving the contract from HDC Hyundai Development Company, the redevelopment project contractor, on September 28, 2020.

Hansol was contracted for scaffolding and structural demolition on a 126,433㎡ site for over 5 billion won, and among this, it signed a subcontracting contract with Baeksol for specialized work such as interior demolition and structural dismantling for 1.163 billion won.

Baeksol carried out demolition work on 587 out of 622 buildings from early October 2020 until June 9, 2021.

During this process, on June 9, 2021, a five-story building under demolition collapsed, causing casualties among 17 people on a passing city bus (9 dead, 8 injured).

Judge Kim pointed out, "Kim made an illegal subcontracting contract with Baeksol at an absurdly low cost, about one-third of the appropriate construction fee, and after completion, demanded a portion of the profits back, which increased the risk of poor-quality construction."

He added, "Baeksol did not follow the demolition plan by using a long boom excavator to dismantle from top to bottom, but instead dismantled some parts from below using their own excavator. This failure to comply appears to be largely due to the widespread subcontracting issues in the industry."

He further stated, "Illegal subcontracting violates the legislative intent of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, which aims to ensure proper construction, and the degree of violation is significant. Moreover, the building collapse during the illegal subcontracted work resulted in 17 casualties, making the responsibility grave."

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