▲ Officials from agencies including the National Forensic Service, police, Ministry of Employment and Labor, and Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency conduct a joint inspection at the site of the Gwangju Main Library collapse in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, on the afternoon of the 16th.
The collapse of the Gwangju Main Library last December, which resulted in four deaths, has been investigated as a "man-made disaster" caused by a combination of faulty welding that deviated from the design and inadequate inspections.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to pursue business suspension penalties against the construction company and the construction project manager, and intends to share the investigation results with the police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor to cooperate in criminal punishment procedures.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the results of the Gwangju Main Library Collapse Accident Investigation Committee today (July 30).
The accident occurred on December 11 of last year at the Gwangju Main Library construction site in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, when the welded parts of the truss structure fractured during the pouring of concrete on the rooftop floor, killing four people.
The accident investigation committee, composed of 11 experts from industry, academia, and research institutes, investigated the cause of the accident through on-site investigations, hearings of related parties, quality tests, non-destructive testing, and detailed structural analysis.
The investigation revealed that there was severe shoddy construction, including the unauthorized insertion of foreign substances such as reinforcing bars during the welding process, which was confirmed as the direct cause of the accident.
It was found that the preparation and review of shop drawings guiding appropriate welding methods were insufficient, and post-construction inspections of the welded parts were not properly conducted, missing opportunities to prevent the accident.
It was also revealed that site management was lax, including deploying welders whose required skill levels on-site had not been verified.
In fact, the strength of the actually constructed welded joints was only at 22 to 31 percent of the design strength, and as the weight of the building itself increased due to concrete pouring, the welded joints fractured successively, leading to the collapse.
It was also confirmed that the welded parts lacked the preparatory processing required for Complete Joint Penetration (CJP) welding to seamlessly fill and join the gaps of the steel materials being connected, and that reinforcing bars were inserted and constructed arbitrarily.
The accident investigation committee judged that primary responsibility lies with the builder's shoddy construction and the construction project manager's negligence in management and supervision.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to pursue business suspension penalties against the contractor and the construction project manager, and will share the investigation results with the police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor to cooperate in criminal prosecution procedures.
Under the Framework Act on the Construction Industry, the standards for business suspension are up to 8 months for the contractor, 12 months for the supervisor, and 4 months for the subcontractor, and specific targets and periods for punishment will be finalized through administrative disposition procedures.
The Iksan Regional Office of Land Management confirmed violations during a special inspection conducted last month, including failure to implement safety management plans, illegal subcontracting to unregistered parties, insertion of reinforcing bars in welded parts, and construction differing from the drawings, and plans to take administrative actions such as criminal accusations, penalty points, and fines in accordance with relevant laws.
The Construction Accident Investigation Committee decided to push for recurrence prevention measures, such as strengthening welding quality inspection standards and procedures and clarifying the inspection and verification obligations of construction project managers.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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