[Exclusive] Provincial Architectural Disciplinary Committees Issue 65% Lenient Punishments... Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Says "No Responsibility" for 'Construction Collusion'

Assemblyman Yu Kyung-jun, Comprehensive Analysis of Disciplinary Results Over the Past 6 Years
Architects on Disciplinary Committee Protecting Their Own
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: "Delegated to City and Province," No Management

The Architectural Disciplinary Committees, delegated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) to operate in 16 cities and provinces nationwide, have been found to have mostly handed down lenient punishments for irregularities at construction sites over the past six years. There are criticisms that 'protecting their own' occurred as inappropriate local architects were included in the disciplinary committees.

On the 27th, a full investigation of the recent six years of operation status data of the Architectural Disciplinary Committees, submitted by 16 cities and provinces to the office of Yoo Kyung-joon, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, revealed that out of a total of 1,680 disciplinary cases excluding others, 65% received light punishments such as warnings (288 cases), reprimands (714 cases), or cautions (93 cases). Suspensions of work accounted for only 585 cases.

The construction site of the LH Gyeonggi-do Yangju Hoecheon A15 block apartment, where all 154 underground parking lot pillars are reported to be missing reinforcement bars. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

The Architectural Disciplinary Committees are bodies that punish poor supervision of construction work, inadequate site guidance, negligence in design work, and so forth. According to the Architect Act, the Minister of MOLIT delegates disciplinary duties to the governors of cities and provinces, who then form these committees. The committees consist of two architects, two MOLIT officials, two associate professors or higher, and two nominees from non-profit private organizations.

Representative Yoo pointed out that since the two architects on the disciplinary committees were from the respective local areas, this led to lenient punishments. In fact, an analysis of disciplinary results over six years showed that some disciplinary committee members directly handled disciplinary cases involving their own architectural offices. Although disciplinary committee members should be disqualified if they have worked at the architect’s office subject to discipline within the past three years, this rule was not followed.

In five regions including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Busan, Chungnam, and Jeju, committee members belonging to the disciplined offices were not excluded and disciplinary procedures proceeded as is, with the severity of punishments generally being light, such as no charges or warnings. Representative Yoo criticized, "The collusion in architect disciplinary actions shows how powerful the construction cartel is."

Yoo Kyung-joon, member of the People Power Party. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Additionally, although the legal term for disciplinary committee members is two years with only one possible renewal, there were cases of two renewals (six years) in violation of this rule. It was also revealed that some architects were appointed as committee members in three different regions simultaneously. One architect in Gyeonggi Province was active on the disciplinary committees of Gyeonggi Province, Seongnam City, and Suwon City during the same period.

MOLIT was also confirmed not to be managing the disciplinary committees separately, citing that the committees are delegated to the cities and provinces according to the Architect Act. MOLIT told Representative Yoo’s office, "Since the disciplinary committees are delegated to the governors of cities and provinces, we do not conduct separate verification of their composition."

However, as architect responsibilities are increasing amid recent incidents such as the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) flat slab scandal, there are calls for the competent ministry to properly manage the Architectural Disciplinary Committees so that they can operate more effectively. Representative Yoo suggested, "If local architects are appointed to the city and provincial architectural disciplinary committees, there is a high possibility of lenient reviews. It is necessary to completely revise the committee composition, such as excluding architects from the respective regions from the committees."

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