Court Sentences Responsible Parties Guilty in Sangdo Kindergarten Collapse Accident

Court: "Defendants' Fault Led to Collapse Due to Poor Construction"

Those responsible for the collapse accident at Sangdo Kindergarten in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, which occurred in 2018, have been found guilty.

Demolition work is underway at the collapsed kindergarten site in Sangdo-dong, Seoul.

On the 30th, Judge Park So-jeong of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 2 sentenced Mr. A, the site supervisor of the multi-family housing construction near Sangdo Kindergarten, to six months in prison. Mr. B, the representative of the subcontracting company, was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation.

The primary contractor, subcontractors, re-subcontractors, and their respective executives and employees were fined between 5 million and 20 million KRW.

Mr. C, the safety and health general manager of the primary contractor, is scheduled to receive a separate sentence after additional evidence investigation.

Judge Park stated, "The defendants’ negligence led to poor construction, causing the retaining wall at the multi-family housing construction site to collapse, which in turn caused the kindergarten building above the retaining structure to collapse."

The Sangdo Kindergarten collapse accident occurred around 11 p.m. on September 6, 2018, when the retaining wall of the nearby multi-family housing construction site collapsed, causing the Seoul Sangdo Kindergarten building nearby to tilt about 10 degrees. Due to safety concerns, part of the kindergarten building was later demolished. In March of that year, shortly after the multi-family housing construction began, the kindergarten detected abnormalities in its building. After consultation, the kindergarten signed a contract with a safety inspection company in May and installed 13 measuring devices. Nevertheless, the contractor began excavation work in June without taking any measures.

The safety inspection company reported no abnormalities in the first measurement (June 29) and the second measurement (July 27). During the third measurement on August 22, it was confirmed that the expansion joints of the retaining wall outside the building had increased by 30 to 40 mm, and some floor cracks had progressed, but no signs of abnormalities in the building were detected.

Investigations revealed that Mr. C and others did not conduct tests to evaluate the stability of the retaining wall during the construction process. They are also accused of failing to take appropriate preliminary measures despite warning signs found in safety inspections prior to the accident.

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