"Application of Serious Citizen Disaster to Osong Accident? Investigation and Prosecution Take Time"

Punishment Possible If Management Defects Proven
"Cause and Countermeasures Must Be Derived Separately from Investigation"

Lawyer Son Ik-chan, who is active in the Movement Headquarters for Creating a World Without Serious Accidents, stated on the 19th regarding the prospect that the flooding accident at Gungpyeong Underpass in Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, which claimed 14 lives, could become the first case of punishment under the Serious Citizen Disaster Act, "The Serious Citizen Disaster Act only punishes the head of the institution, so it is a law that investigates and punishes by finding the root cause of the cause." He added, "Since it completely finds the fault of the entire organization and holds it accountable, it inevitably takes time."

On the same day, appearing on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Lawyer Son explained, "In the concept of serious citizen disasters, the cause of the disaster and the extent of the damage are important," and "Both conditions must be met for the concept of serious citizen disaster to apply, but the law punishes only the management responsible person, that is, the head of the institution, not all related parties."

It is expected that although the Gungpyeong Underpass tragedy meets the requirements of a serious citizen disaster, it will take time for investigation and prosecution because the structural causes of the accident need to be identified.

He also emphasized that a joint public-private investigation should be conducted alongside the investigation. Lawyer Son said, "Trust can be built only when the cause of the accident and countermeasures are derived by a neutral and professional organization, and misunderstandings about scapegoating will be dispelled."

Night rescue operations continued on the 16th at Gungpyeong 2 Underpass in Osong-eup, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, which was flooded due to the collapse of the Miho River embankment.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The causes related to management defects in this accident are narrowed down to two: 'collapse of a temporary embankment built due to nearby Miho River bridge construction' and 'lack of traffic control.'

According to Lawyer Son, in the case of the temporary embankment collapse, if management defects or faults are proven, the Minister of Environment is likely to be held responsible.

Lawyer Son explained, "Since there is no precedent yet for punishment under the Serious Citizen Disaster Act, we have to approach it cautiously, but there have already been three rulings and about 20 prosecutions for serious industrial accidents," adding, "The Serious Accident Punishment Act basically holds the original contractor responsible even if subcontracting or outsourcing has occurred multiple times for certain tasks, and the punishment target is set as the head of the central administrative agency."

Under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, serious accidents are divided into serious industrial accidents and serious citizen disasters. Although there are no precedents related to serious citizen disasters yet, referring to precedents punished for serious industrial accidents, if management defects or faults are proven, the Minister of Environment is highly likely to be punished.

If negligence related to lack of traffic control is proven, the Governor of Chungbuk Province or the Mayor of Cheongju City is likely to be held responsible. Lawyer Son said, "According to the Facility Safety Act, if there is a serious defect in a facility making safe use difficult, the managing entity must restrict or prohibit its use," adding, "The entity responsible for this road is Chungbuk Province."

He continued, "However, under the Disaster and Safety Management Act, the head of the local government plays the role of disaster safety control tower," and added, "It remains to be seen whether more responsibility will be assigned to the formal road management entity (Chungbuk Province) or to Cheongju City, which relatively has easier information aggregation."

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