Gwangju Representative Library Official Suspected of Taking Bribes... Partially Admits Charges

[Anchor]

Police investigating the collapse accident at the Gwangju Representative Library are looking into allegations that officials, including a public servant affiliated with the Gwangju City Construction Headquarters, accepted bribes. They are reportedly known to have partially admitted to the charges during police questioning.

This is Lim Kyeong-seop from KBC.

[Reporter]

The collapse accident at the Gwangju Representative Library was revealed to be a total man-made disaster caused by shoddy workmanship throughout the entire process, including poor joint welding and lax supervision.

Police are looking into allegations of bribery among officials, including employees of the Gwangju City Construction Headquarters.

The construction-related officials, including the public servant, are suspected of accepting or demanding bribes from Hongjin Construction, which participated in the Gwangju Representative Library project as a joint contractor.

The officials in question are reportedly known to have partially admitted to the charges during police questioning.

Police had continued their investigation after catching a glimpse of money changing hands while probing suspicions that the contractor had created a slush fund.

Meanwhile, the police have sent a team leader and a staff member from the Construction Headquarters to the prosecutors without detention on charges of poor management, such as failing to take appropriate measures despite receiving reports of poor welding.

Two high-ranking officials, including the head of the headquarters who was booked together, were not sent to the prosecutors as they were deemed to have no charges.

Previously, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport diagnosed that the accident was a complex combination of poor joint welding, insufficient quality control, and lax management and supervision by the supervision and commissioning agency.

Police responded that they cannot disclose specific details as the matter is currently under investigation.

(Video courtesy of: Yum Pil-ho, KBC)

Lim Kyeong-seop, KBC
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.