[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Eight construction officials and two corporations have been brought to trial in connection with the landslide that occurred in Gokseong, Jeonnam in 2020.
The Criminal Division 3 of Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Young-su) announced on the 30th that one Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official, one Jeonnam provincial official, three design and construction company officials, and three supervisors were indicted without detention on charges including professional negligence causing death.
The construction and supervision corporations were also indicted for violating the Construction Technology Promotion Act.
They are accused of neglecting construction, supervision, and oversight at the construction site for the expansion of National Route 15, which led to a landslide on the back mountain of a village in Osan-myeon, Gokseong-gun, Jeonnam, between 8:26 p.m. and 8:28 p.m. on August 7, 2020, causing two retaining walls to collapse, burying five houses and resulting in the deaths of five residents.
Despite forecasts of heavy rain, they failed to properly implement safety measures to prevent rainwater from flowing into the soil buried on the cut slopes and valleys for road expansion or to prevent soil from sliding down, according to investigations.
Near the landslide site, a stepped retaining wall was constructed in 2004 after the road was washed away by Typhoon Maemi in 2003.
The Iksan Regional Land Management Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Suncheon Land Management Office did not manage the retaining wall at all and did not transfer related documents until the management responsibility was transferred to the Jeonnam Provincial Road Management Office in 2010, and Jeonnam Province also did not conduct any significant management or inspections.
In 2019, another retaining wall construction began below the road, and although the designer was aware of the slope's existence through satellite images, the design was made without considering slope stability and road conditions.
Subsequently, the construction company changed the concrete retaining wall design to a reinforced soil retaining wall but did not review slope stability nor consult the original designer.
Despite adopting a design method similar to that used on flat land and using materials with insufficient density, the supervisors did not thoroughly manage or oversee the work.
Even when the retaining wall completion inspection was conducted in June 2020, structural calculation documents and review opinions were missing, but the supervisors and Jeonnam provincial officials falsified official documents as if the first completion inspection was conducted six days later and there were no issues with the construction.
The prosecution explained that the indictment took two years and three months after the accident because they requested an appraisal from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency and time was required due to personnel changes among the prosecutors in charge.
A prosecution official said, "We should have been more considerate of the bereaved families' feelings. We filed the case after on-site investigations and gathering expert opinions, and we will do our best to maintain the prosecution in future trials."
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