GTX Rebar Omission: "Oh Covering Up Shoddy Construction" vs "Election Season Rumors" (Comprehensive)

Public Administration and Security Committee Becomes a Prelude to the Seoul Mayoral Election

"Shoddy Construction Mentioned on Only One Page Out of 500"

Distortion Through False Claims... Jeong Wono Filed Against

The ruling and opposition parties clashed over the omission of steel rebar at Samseong Station on the Seoul Metropolitan Area Express Train (GTX)-A line, an issue that has emerged as a key topic in the June 3 local elections for Seoul Mayor. The camp of Jeong Wono, the Democratic Party candidate, raised the issue of responsibility for Oh Sehoon, the People Power Party candidate currently serving as Seoul Mayor, while Oh's camp countered by calling it groundless rumors.

On the 17th, Jung Wono, the Democratic Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, along with members of the Democratic Party's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee and the Public Administration and Security Committee, inspected the underground space complex development site along Yeongdong-daero on the Seoul Metropolitan Express Railway (GTX)-A line in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where rebar omission and substandard construction were reported. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

At the plenary session of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee held on the morning of the 18th, suspicions involving each party's candidates—including the shoddy construction at GTX-A Samseong Station and the assault incident—became focal points of debate. Yoon Hojoong, Minister of Public Administration and Security, Yoo Jaeseong, Acting Commissioner General of the National Police Agency, and Lim Chunkeun, Head of Seoul Urban Infrastructure Headquarters, attended the meeting.

Assemblyman Lee Haesik of the Democratic Party stated, "This is the largest civil engineering project ever carried out in Korea, so it is hardly believable that the Seoul Mayor was unaware of this faulty construction. For candidate Oh to blatantly claim on air that it was 'simply a contractor error' or that he 'did not know' is, under election law, a false statement of fact."

He then asked Acting Commissioner Yoo, "If a complaint is filed, should it be investigated?" Acting Commissioner Yoo replied, "If a complaint is filed, the police will proceed with an investigation."

Assemblyman Chae Hyunil of the same party said, "The ultimate person responsible for safety in Seoul is the mayor, and the mayor is responsible for all safety incidents occurring in Seoul." He continued, "The serious issue is that the accident site was neglected for six months after the incident, and during that period, it was not reported to the mayor. Whether it was covered up after being reported or simply not reported at all, both scenarios indicate incompetence and a lack of safety awareness."

On the 18th, at the plenary session of the Public Administration and Security Committee held at the National Assembly, Park Sumin (left) and Park Chungkwon, members of the People Power Party, are removing placards with allegations related to the assault incident involving Jung Wono, the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul Mayor. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the other hand, Assemblywoman Cho Eunhee of the People Power Party pointed out, "If you look at the report submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to the National Railroad Corporation, it shows that construction errors were reported three times during the process."

Assemblyman Ko Dongjin of the People Power Party also remarked, "The Democratic Party keeps claiming that the Seoul Metropolitan Government intentionally delayed informing the National Railroad Corporation, which is not true. With the elections approaching, some are trying to frame this as a rumor; we should refrain from doing so."

Subsequently, the People Power Party members of the Public Administration and Security Committee held a press conference after the recess, stating, "We are filing a complaint against candidate Jeong for distorting GTX-A safety issues as false facts for election purposes." They asserted, "Candidate Jeong and his campaign are using provocative terms such as 'boneless GTX,' 'cover-up,' and 'irresponsible safety insensitivity.' However, the verified facts are entirely different. The issue was discovered during the contractor's own quality inspection, reported to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, which immediately consulted outside experts and reviewed reinforcement construction methods, and then officially reported it to the National Railroad Corporation and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."

Democratic Party committee members of the Public Administration and Security Committee countered, "The core issue is that the relevant institutions failed to properly share information to enable an immediate response." After the press conference, Assemblyman Yoon Kunyoung of the Democratic Party met with reporters, holding up a monthly construction project management report nearly 400–500 pages long, and said, "This is a work log for November 2025, but the section on rebar omission and shoddy construction is only one page. The Seoul Metropolitan Government claims it reported the issue after reading this, and People Power Party lawmakers are making a fuss to protect candidate Oh."

The plenary meeting of the Administrative Safety Committee is being held at the National Assembly on the 18th. Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, in November last year, Hyundai E&C became aware of construction errors related to rebar omission at the GTX-A Samseong Station complex transfer center and reported it to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. It was revealed that rebar was omitted from 50 out of 80 columns on the fifth basement level of the affected section. Until March of this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government conducted advisory meetings involving external experts and on-site inspections to assess the appropriateness of the reinforcement plan, and reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport last month. The Ministry announced it has launched an emergency on-site inspection and audit.

Meanwhile, immediately after the opening of the plenary session that day, People Power Party lawmakers attached phrases addressing allegations surrounding candidate Jeong—such as "Cancun junket," "forced overnight stay," and "police assault"—to their laptops, prompting objections from Democratic Party lawmakers.

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