Ministry of Land to Conduct One-Month Special On-Site Inspection of Samseong Station GTX Construction

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would begin a special on-site inspection starting May 18 in relation to the construction work on the GTX (Great Train Express) Samseong Station section in the Seoul metropolitan area.

The construction work for the approximately 1-kilometer-long GTX Samseong Station section has been carried out by the Korea National Railway, which was commissioned by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to oversee the site. The construction company identified some construction errors in November last year and notified the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has raised issues with the fact that the city only reported this to the ministry last month, several months after being notified.

The ministry explained that after confirming the construction errors on April 29, it conducted an emergency nighttime inspection. Subsequently, from May 6 for three days, a team of 20 external experts focused on inspecting the structural design adequacy, reinforcement placement adequacy, and the suitability of reinforcement plans, particularly around the columns. The ministry determined that the reinforcement plan needs to be thoroughly verified by a credible institution. In addition, it concluded that all structures under construction and the adequacy of the entire construction process require further inspection.

Accordingly, following discussions with relevant agencies on May 14, the ministry decided to form and operate a special on-site inspection team to investigate the adequacy of the entire construction process for all sections of the underground complex development project along Yeongdong-daero. Separately, on May 15, the ministry launched an audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Korea National Railway, citing issues such as delayed reporting. It clarified that the on-site inspection would focus on whether the construction company and the site work were properly executed, while the audit would target the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Korea National Railway.

View of the underground space complex development site on Yeongdong-daero, a section of the GTX-A line in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the Construction Technology Promotion Act, the special on-site inspection team checks sites where prevention of poor construction is necessary and assesses the severity if poor construction has occurred or is likely to occur. This inspection team consists of 12 external experts from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Infrastructure Safety and Technology Corporation, Korea Railroad Research Institute, and Korea National Railway. The team will be active for about a month from today, with the possibility of extension if necessary.

Based on the results of the on-site inspection, the ministry plans to take necessary measures, such as imposing penalty points, issuing corrective orders, and levying fines against construction companies and supervisors. Regarding the verification of the reinforcement method, a full review is scheduled to begin this week following prior consultation with an authorized institution.

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