Won Hee-ryong: "Design, supervision, and construction companies did not fulfill their responsibilities... Decision on disposition by August"

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Announces Cause of Geomdan Underground Parking Collapse
Disciplinary Actions and Follow-up Measures to Be Announced in August... "Transparent Disclosure"

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated regarding the underground parking lot collapse accident that occurred last April at the AA13-2 block public sale apartment construction site in Geomdan New Town, Wondang-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon, "We will transparently disclose the investigation results to alleviate the public’s concerns and doubts about the aboveground area and GS Construction’s other projects."

On the afternoon of May 2, Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, conducted an inspection related to the underground parking lot collapse accident at the construction site of the public sale apartment in Block AA13-2, Geomdan New Town, Seo-gu, Incheon, and held a Q&A session with reporters. / Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

On the 5th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced at a briefing at the Government Sejong Complex that the accident was caused by comprehensive negligence throughout the entire construction process, from design to supervision and construction. The degree of responsibility and the level of punishment will be determined after reviewing the division of roles in the contract and whether violations of current laws warrant penalties, with plans to announce the results around mid-August.

This site was commissioned by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), with GS Construction (lead company) and others responsible for construction. The project was carried out using the Construction Management (CM) method, where the contractor participates from the design stage. Although construction was ongoing with occupancy scheduled for December, at around 11:30 PM on April 29, the upper structure between the 1st and 2nd floors of the underground parking lot collapsed. There were no casualties.

The main cause of the accident was the omission of the necessary rebar (shear reinforcement) in the columns. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport reported that this omission occurred from the initial stage of creating the structural calculation sheet during the design phase. Based on this, the drawings were created, but the supervisor failed to detect the error and approved them. The construction company further neglected this and omitted even more rebar.

Minister Won said, "If any one of the designer, contractor, or supervisor had fulfilled their given responsibilities, this situation would not have escalated to this extent," adding, "We are currently investigating whether there are any issues with the aboveground site and other projects. We will transparently disclose the investigation process and results to the public without prejudice."

The decision on whether to punish related parties such as LH and GS Construction and the severity of such punishment has been deferred until all investigations are complete. While no party is free from responsibility, determining who bears greater responsibility requires examining the actual division of roles and legal regulations.

The disclosure is scheduled for mid-August. This timing takes into account the detailed safety inspection currently underway by LH with the participation of residents, commissioned to the Architectural Institute of Korea, as well as the review schedule for the adequacy of safety inspections of 83 sites under construction by GS Construction.

Minister Won stated, "There are aspects that require considerable expertise and scientific analysis. We intend to judge the trust issue from the perspective of residents and the public," and added, "We will not rush to a predetermined conclusion but will proceed thoroughly and principled."

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