Osong Underpass Tragedy "Major Citizen Disaster, The Key is Proving 'Management Defect'"

"Likely Applicable to Serious Citizen Disasters"
Stronger Punishment Than Negligent Homicide at Work

As the police have launched an investigation into the flooding accident at Cheongju Osong Gungpyeong 2nd Underground Road, which resulted in 14 deaths, attention is focused on whether the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAP Act) will apply under the serious citizen disaster clause. Experts diagnose this tragedy as essentially a 'government disaster (Gwanjae)' and predict that it will be the first case to apply the serious citizen disaster clause.

On the 16th, 119 rescue workers are searching for missing persons at Gungpyeong 2 Underpass in Osong-eup, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, which was flooded due to the collapse of the Miho River embankment. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the police on the 21st, the National Police Agency recently organized an investigation headquarters consisting of 138 investigators. The investigation headquarters has begun inquiries into local governments such as Chungcheongbuk-do and Cheongju City, the Administrative City Construction Agency (Haengbokcheong), and the Geumgang Flood Control Office. In particular, the investigation headquarters is conducting a legal review to determine whether the case falls under serious citizen disasters as defined by the SAP Act.

The SAP Act classifies serious accidents into serious industrial accidents and serious citizen disasters. Generally, natural disasters such as floods or heavy rain do not fall under serious citizen disasters. However, if a disaster occurs due to defects in the design, manufacture, installation, or management of public-use facilities during a natural disaster, the clause applies. In such cases, criminal liability can be imposed on the heads of public institutions, local public enterprises that effectively control, operate, and manage the relevant public-use facilities, as well as local government heads and heads of central administrative agencies.

In the 2020 flooding accident at Busan Choryang Underground Road, public officials were punished for involuntary manslaughter due to negligence in the performance of duties. The penalty for involuntary manslaughter due to negligence is imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 7 million won. However, if it qualifies as a serious citizen disaster, the responsible parties face much heavier penalties, including imprisonment for more than one year or fines up to 1 billion won.

Experts point out that the serious citizen disaster clause is sufficiently applicable in this case. Professor Gong Ha-seong of the Department of Fire and Disaster Prevention at Woosuk University said, "The direct cause of this incident was the collapse of the embankment due to the overflow of the Miho River, which flooded the underground road, and the related local governments and public institutions did not respond. This is an incident where the serious citizen disaster clause can definitely be applied."

The responsibility for the incident is expected to fall on local governments such as Chungbuk Province and Cheongju City. This is because the Gungpyeong 2nd Underground Road can be classified as a public-use facility under Article 3, Clause 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the SAP Act. Professor Yeom Geon-ung of the Department of Police and Fire Administration at U1 University said, "This incident is a government disaster caused by poor management. Since the poor management of the local government was the cause, the direction of the investigation is expected to focus on this."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Furthermore, the Administrative City Construction Agency (Haengbokcheong), which directly caused the incident, is unlikely to escape responsibility easily. About 400 meters from the accident site, construction was underway to expand the Miho River Bridge (Osong?Cheongju Road Expansion Project). There are suspicions that Haengbokcheong, the agency responsible for the construction, poorly managed the temporary embankment, and criticisms have been raised that the height of the rebuilt embankment is lower than nearby embankments, making an investigation inevitable. Professor Gong said, "It seems that Haengbokcheong also had problems with the embankment construction along the Miho River," adding, "We need to examine whether Haengbokcheong's response before and after the construction was appropriate."

Experts predict that the key to proving a serious citizen disaster will be how to demonstrate the management defects of the relevant local governments and public institutions. Professor Yeom said, "Since this incident caused deaths due to management defects, clarifying the causal relationship will be crucial," and pointed out, "However, considering the overall content of this case, it is sufficient to prove such a causal relationship."

He continued, "First, investigative agencies should review the predictability and prove that this accident was sufficiently foreseeable. Then, the investigation should proceed in the order of proving management defects and management responsibility."

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