Seoul City Criticizes Ministry of Land's Plan to Seek Compensation Over Rebar Omission at GTX-A Samseong Station as "Shifting Responsibility"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government stated that it will "firmly respond to the shifting of responsibility," responding to remarks made yesterday (September 16) by Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nominee Hong Ji-sun during a parliamentary confirmation hearing that the ministry plans to seek compensation from the city for operational losses resulting from omitted reinforcing bars at GTX-A Samseong Station.

In an official statement released today (September 17), the Seoul Metropolitan Government wrote, "It is highly inappropriate to unilaterally take Seoul City's responsibility for granted and preemptively announce a claim for damages when objective verification regarding the causes of the losses and attribution of fault has not even been concluded."

The city stated, "The scheduled timeline for the GTX-A non-stop passage through Samseong Station was originally set for August of this year," adding, "Since discovering the omitted rebar last November, Seoul City has worked to ensure no disruptions to the schedule by verifying structural safety and pursuing reinforcement work."

In particular, the city emphasized, "Structural safety was not determined solely by the Seoul Metropolitan Government," noting that "the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the国家铁道公단 (Korea National Railway) also verified safety through direct inspections."

It went on to ask, "If the structure had been in a dangerously unsafe state, would the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have been able to directly resume test operations?"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government explained that two rounds of vibration measurements conducted in May and July at the request of the Korea Authority of Land Safety Management, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Korea National Railway confirmed that the impact of passing trains on the structure was minimal.

It stated, "As a result, the non-stop passage of the GTX-A and the reinforcement work could proceed concurrently, and there was no need to delay the non-stop passage on the grounds of reinforcement work," adding, "Seoul City has consistently maintained the position that reinforcement work and non-stop passage can be carried out in parallel, provided that safety is secured."

The city pointed out to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, "Despite safety already being verified through inspections by related agencies during a sensitive period ahead of elections at the time, the start of the reinforcement work was delayed, and the inspection period—originally set to run until July 20—was extended by four months to November 20."

It added that this delayed both the reinforcement work, which could have been completed by mid-July, and the non-stop passage at Samseong Station originally scheduled for August.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government criticized, "Even though the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea National Railway verified structural safety themselves and even resumed test operations, they delayed related procedures for a long period under the pretext of additional verification," calling it "absurd to force Seoul citizens to shoulder the increased costs resulting from this with their hard-earned tax money."

It also warned, "If a claim for compensation is actually filed in the future, we will clearly distinguish and hold accountable the responsibilities for the omitted rebar versus the additional inspections and schedule delays."

Furthermore, it stated, "We will resolutely respond to any attempts to shift responsibility by passing on additional costs incurred by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's decisions onto the taxes of Seoul citizens."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.