The Seoul city government reiterated that it notified Korea National Railway six times of the construction error involving missing rebar at Samsung Station on the GTX-A line.
Spokesperson Lee Min-kyoung of the Seoul city government issued a statement on the 20th, saying, "After receiving a report on the construction error, for about six months the Seoul city government has continued to report to Korea National Railway a total of six times on 51 items, including progress on work processes, reinforcement plans, and safety measures."
She added, "In the process, the corporation did not raise any separate objections or issues," and said, "If the corporation failed to properly check the matter despite repeated official reports, that can be seen as a serious lapse in management and oversight, and as a failure to fulfill its contractual responsibility and management duty."
Earlier, the rail corporation argued, "The missing rebar issue was not reflected in the summary of key points in the (Seoul city government's) submitted report, and it was reported as 'not applicable' even in the main text's construction failure cases, making it difficult for the corporation to grasp the facts."
The Spokesperson said, "Nevertheless, the Democratic Party of Korea and some media are amplifying and reproducing baseless anxiety and political offensives without sufficiently verifying even the most basic technical and administrative facts related to the construction."
Lee said, "This is an irresponsible practice that uses citizens' safety as material for political strife, and we express deep regret that it can foster unnecessary fear and confusion, undermining on-site responses and public trust," adding, "The Seoul city government will not be swayed by baseless political offensives and distorted framing, and will continue responsible construction management and swift, thorough safety measures with citizens' safety as the top priority."