Korea Kacoh, which carried out the blasting demolition at the time of the boiler tower collapse at Ulsan Thermal Power Plant that left 7 people dead, issued an official apology to the bereaved families on the 15th. It came 9 days after the accident. On the cause of the accident, the company said it was "frustrating because it is hard to presume."
Korea Kacoh held a press conference in front of Ulsan Thermal Power Plant that morning and issued an apology. Korea Kacoh CEO Seok Cheol-gi said, "We pray for the souls of those who lost their lives in the accident, and we extend our apologies and condolences with a heavy heart to the bereaved families experiencing an unexpected tragedy." He said, "We will do our best to support the families and faithfully cooperate with the procedures necessary to determine the cause, including requests from investigative authorities."
Korea Kacoh is the subcontractor that performed the blasting demolition work from HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, the builder for the demolition of boiler tower Units 4, 5, and 6.
Korea Kacoh largely avoided answering reporters' questions, saying it was "difficult to respond because authorities are currently investigating." It did speak up to add explanations on some issues.
When asked whether there was an "assumed cause of the accident," the company said, "We cannot presume it, so we are frustrated as well."
To the question, "Why was only one full-time employee assigned to such a dangerous job while the rest were contract workers?" the company said, "They are skilled workers who have worked continuously with our employees, and some day laborers were assigned to duties such as fire watch or signaling."
It also said, "At the time of the accident, at the 25-meter point on the tower, some weakening work (pre-cutting columns and steel structures so that a large structure can easily collapse in the intended direction during removal) was underway along with the installation of protective materials," and asserted that "construction was carried out according to the structural review."
In response to the point that "the toppling method using wires is better in terms of safety," the company answered, "With wires, people have to climb onto and approach the target object to install them, so we judged that the blasting demolition method is much safer."
However, it did not answer questions such as "why weakening work was carried out at the 25-meter point (not at the lower columns)," "whether there was supervision on site," and "why personnel were sent inside when weakening can be done from the outside."
At about 2:02 p.m. on the 6th, at Ulsan Thermal Power Plant, boiler tower Unit 5, measuring 25 meters wide, 15.5 meters long, and 63 meters high, collapsed, and 7 of the 9 Korea Kacoh workers who were on site at the time were buried and later found dead.
Only one of them was a full-time employee and the rest were contract workers. The two who were rescued suffered serious injuries and are currently being treated.