Apartment with 'Rebar Omission' Spread at Full Price, Ruling and Opposition Parties Have Different Agendas

'Poor Construction Responsibility' Blamed on Moon Administration by Ruling Party
Opposition: "Prosecutors Should Investigate and Government Must Devise Measures"

The defective construction scandal of apartments managed by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) is spreading to the political circles in Yeouido, but the ruling and opposition parties have differing views. The People Power Party has stated that it will consider a state audit if necessary to uncover the truth and has shifted the responsibility to the previous government, while the Democratic Party believes that a prosecution investigation into construction company corruption and a government-level cause investigation should take priority.

Kim Gi-hyeon, leader of the People Power Party, announced a state audit targeting the previous Moon Jae-in administration. On the 2nd, Kim said on Facebook, "LH, which spent hundreds of millions of won staging a show of former President Moon Jae-in visiting rental apartments, distorted the housing market by pushing rental housing against the housing demand of the people who wish to own homes," adding, "In reality, they not only failed to do this properly but also tolerated and neglected the '3-buls' (defective design, construction, and supervision), which is close to intentional negligence."

Kim stated, "The People Power Party will identify the actual conditions of defective apartment construction, devise safety measures, and hold responsible parties and related companies accountable," and added, "We will promote a state audit to uncover the corruption carried out by the construction interest cartel and thoroughly investigate its background, and promptly prepare measures to prevent recurrence."

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, also said at a press briefing on the 'defective construction of the Mu-ryang-pan method' on the same day, "Considering that the scandal of land speculation by former and current LH employees occurred not long ago and now the rebar omission incident has erupted, we cannot help but infer serious flaws in the housing management policy of the Moon Jae-in administration," and insisted, "Investigations should be conducted not only on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the previous government but also on policy decision-makers."

On the other hand, the Democratic Party is emphasizing the responsibility of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport regarding the defective construction scandal and urging the government to prepare countermeasures.

Kwon Chil-seung, senior spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said at a National Assembly briefing on the same day, "Even in a situation where anxiety and fear are spreading due to defective construction, the shallow 'blame others DNA' trying to evade responsibility has inevitably manifested," criticizing, "Is it acceptable to bring up the previous government even in matters directly related to the lives and safety of the people and attempt political division?"

Kwon further stated, "President Yoon Seok-yeol has never once shown an attitude of taking responsibility for disasters identified as human or official disasters, such as the Itaewon tragedy and the Osong underpass disaster," emphasizing, "Regarding the 'rebar omission apartment' incident, we urge a thorough investigation into the causes to ensure the lives and safety of the people and the government’s responsible preparation of countermeasures against defective construction."

This was a rebuttal to President Yoon’s remarks at the Cabinet meeting the previous day, where he pointed to the construction industry 'interest cartel' as the fundamental cause of defective construction in apartment underground parking lots and said that the problematic Mu-ryang-pan method underground parking lots were incidents that occurred before the current government took office.

Park Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, told reporters after the Supreme Council meeting on the same day, "The People Power Party is blaming the previous government and raising the issue of a state audit, but this seems like an attempt to deflect responsibility from the current Yoon Seok-yeol administration," arguing, "They should stop blaming others and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should take responsibility and prepare countermeasures."

He added, "Rather than a state audit, the Democratic Party’s position is that the prosecution should investigate issues involving corruption, and since there are parts related to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the government should take responsibility, investigate the causes, and prepare countermeasures."

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