MOLIT and Incheon Form Accident Investigation Committee for Songdo Apartment Terrace Collapse

An accident investigation committee has been formed to determine the cause of the collapse of an exterior terrace (projecting balcony) at an apartment complex in the Songdo International City of Incheon, which occurred just a year and six months after its completion.

Incheon City announced today (August 20) that it has jointly formed a "Facility Accident Investigation Committee" with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and will begin full-scale investigations starting tomorrow (August 21).

The committee consists of 10 experts from various fields including building structure, construction, and law. It will be headed by Professor Hong Geon-ho of Hoseo University (President of the Korea Concrete Institute), an expert in structural engineering.

The committee will operate for three months until November 20, with the operation period subject to extension depending on the progress of the investigation.

The committee plans to conduct on-site investigations and root-cause analyses, examine the overall adequacy of the construction process—including design, construction, supervision, and permitting—and formulate improvement measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

Lee Won-ju, Director-General of Urban Planning at Incheon City, said, "We will uncover the exact cause of the accident through an objective and thorough investigation," adding, "We will come up with effective safety measures targeting similar projecting structures."

At the apartment complex, which was completed in February of last year, the exterior terrace and lower exterior finishing materials of a single unit collapsed to the ground at 6:02 a.m. on the 7th of this month, though fortunately resulting in no casualties.

According to the emergency preparedness committee representing the residents of Luxocean SK View, the builder explained during a resident meeting on the 10th that "there were construction flaws at the accident site, such as fewer reinforcing bars than standard requirements and an insufficient amount of chemical anchor adhesive injected."

According to the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Il-yong, a total of 57,296 defect complaints have been filed with the builder since move-ins began in March of last year at the 1,114-household apartment complex.

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