Seoul City was put under audit over allegations that it learned of missing rebar in the GTX-A Samseong Station section of the metropolitan express railway but reported it late to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Over this, Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate for Seoul mayor, and Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, are escalating their war of words.

Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral candidate, visits the GTX-A Samseong Station section in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 17th to inspect the construction site where rebar is missing./Courtesy of News1

On the morning of the 17th, after an emergency visit to the construction site, Chong toured the site and said, "Even though problems occurred during construction on the fifth basement level, work has proceeded up to the third floor," noting that it is "in a state where safety reinforcement has not been carried out."

He then pointed out, "It is said that the line that took overall responsibility and approved this was at the Deputy Minister level, and this clearly shows how Seoul City views safety issues right now."

At the same time, Chong's camp asked again, "When did you first receive a report on this shoddy construction and poor workmanship incident?", "And what actions did you take?", and "Why was this report made to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) only after five and a half months had passed?", stressing that "the person responsible for this construction is the Seoul mayor."

◇ Oh Se-hoon's camp says "stoking public anxiety is irresponsible"… Chong Won-o's camp says "don't cut off the tail"

Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's Seoul mayoral candidate, speaks at his campaign office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 17th./Courtesy of Yonhap

That day, campaign spokesperson Kim Byung-min for Oh said, "The builder (Hyundai Engineering & Construction) had already discovered that some rebar was missing due to a practical drawing-interpretation error during construction and voluntarily reported this to the client, Seoul City."

He added, "Afterward, necessary procedures such as on-site safety inspections, expert reviews, and the establishment of reinforcement plans were carried out, and after reinforcement, structural safety was actually strengthened beyond the original design standards."

Oh's camp went on to say, "This case is one in which the builder's error was found within Seoul City's current safety management system and safety issues were blocked in advance." It also said, "Since the builder is bearing the full additional reinforcement cost, safety issues of concern to citizens are being managed so there are none."

Chong Won-o, the Democratic Party of Korea's Seoul mayoral candidate, makes an emergency visit on the 17th to the GTX-A Samseong Station construction site in Gangnam-gu, Seoul where rebar is missing./Courtesy of News1

Less than an hour after Oh's camp stated its position, Chong's camp issued another. Campaign spokesperson Park Kyung-mi for Chong said, "Oh Se-hoon drew a line, calling it a simple mistake by Hyundai Engineering & Construction and saying it had nothing to do with Seoul City," calling it "an irresponsible attempt to evade blame."

She added, "Seoul City received a report from the builder on Nov. 10 last year about the missing rebar, but it notified the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport only on Apr. 29 this year, more than five months later."

Spokesperson Park said, "(This was) just two days after Oh stepped down as mayor and jumped into the campaign," adding, "This deceives voters."

Chong's camp asked whether "quietly patching things up" took priority over "citizen safety," saying, "Was this entire process unrelated to the Seoul mayor?"

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