As the Lee Jae-myung administration presented strong sanctions against construction companies where industrial accidents occurred at construction sites, executives of major domestic builders expressed in the National Assembly their determination to make all-out efforts to prevent accidents.
Song Chi-young, president of POSCO E&C, appeared at the National Assembly's Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee audit on the 13th in Yeouido, Seoul, and, regarding the series of industrial accidents at construction sites this year, said, "We are very sorry for causing serious accidents."
President Lee Jae-myung in a Cabinet meeting in Jul. criticized the fact that workers died in successive industrial accidents at sites built by POSCO E&C. The Ministry of Employment and Labor then announced last month a comprehensive occupational safety plan that includes imposing a penalty surcharge of up to 5% of operating profit on corporations that repeatedly have industrial accidents and pushing for deregistration.
Song said, "It is true that employees feel anxious about the company's future after the serious accidents," but added, "We are managing the company by continuously sharing with employees that, through safety management, the company can grow stably going forward."
Song took office on Aug. 5 as the successor to former president Jeong Hee-min, who resigned, taking responsibility for the occurrence of serious accidents.
In response to a question from Rep. Jeong Jeom-sik of the People Power Party, who asked, "Isn't the management damage significant due to the suspension of sites after industrial accidents?," Song answered, "It is true that the management loss is considerable, but we will do our best to make up for the loss through an early normalization of management."
Also appearing was Kim Bo-hyeon, president of Daewoo E&C, which was identified as the corporation with the most serious accidents, with 12 fatal accidents from 2022 through the first quarter of this year. Regarding the suspension of construction due to the accidents, Kim said, "There is a sense of crisis that no business can be carried out unless safety is guaranteed. The amount incurred in the process is not important."
Questions continued to Hyundai E&C CEO Lee Han-woo over the unilateral termination of the negotiated contract for the Gadeokdo new airport construction. When Rep. Kim Do-eup of the People Power Party asked the reason for the termination, Lee answered, "When we submitted the basic design in Apr. this year, we proposed a construction period of 108 months, but it was not accepted."
Rep. Kim went on to criticize, saying, "While proceeding with the basic negotiated contract, you agreed to conduct 58 ground drilling surveys, but you wasted six months without conducting a single one," and "After that, Hyundai E&C claimed it would take 108 months and walked away, an act that completely undermined trust in a national project."
When asked, "Do you bear no responsibility for the delay of more than a year?," Lee answered, "It cannot be said that there is no responsibility for the situation."