The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 18th it will launch a special on-site inspection in connection with the confirmed omission of rebar in the construction section of Samsung Station on the GTX-A line.
That day, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said it formed a special on-site inspection team. The team will examine the appropriateness of the construction process in the Samsung Station section. The team includes 12 outside experts from MOLIT, the Korea Authority of Land & Infrastructure Safety (KALIS), the Korea Railroad Research Institute, and Korea National Railway. The team will operate for a month and can extend the period if needed.
The controversy over shoddy construction of the GTX flared after a news outlet reported an internal document from Korea National Railway. According to the corporation, of 228 columns installed in the underground structure of the Gangnam GTX transfer center, 80 built by Hyundai Engineering & Construction were found to be missing rebar.
In Nov. last year, Hyundai Engineering & Construction reportedly confirmed this during its own inspection and voluntarily reported it to the Seoul city government. However, Seoul was said not to have immediately reported it to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the competent ministry. Seoul is reported to have informed MOLIT on the 29th of last month, six months later. In response, MOLIT launched an internal audit of the Seoul city government and Korea National Railway on the 15th.
MOLIT plans to take measures such as penalty points, corrective orders, and fines against the constructor, supervisor, and others based on the inspection results.