[Supervision, Their Own Cartel] ① 'Elpia' Dominates Supervision Firms... Participates in Projects Despite Major Accidents

K Architectural Office, which supervised the construction of 2 out of 15 apartment complexes with poor construction due to missing rebar (reinforcement bars) in underground parking lots. This firm was also responsible for the supervision of the I-Park in Hwajeong-dong, Gwangju, where a collapse accident occurred last year. They also participated in the supervision of the underground parking lot collapse at an apartment complex in Geomdan, Incheon, last April. The representative is a former employee of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), and three former LH officials currently serve as executives.

Additionally, M Architectural Office supervised 3 apartment complexes with missing rebar. This company employed about 20 former LH personnel as on-site technical staff and received 36 citations (penalty points) for poor supervision over the past five years.

Lee Han-jun, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), is offering an apology regarding the recent apartment rebar omission incident during a meeting chaired by the president at the LH Seoul Regional Headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 2nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to data provided on the 4th by Kim Du-kwan of the Democratic Party and the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), among the service companies re-employed by former LH employees of grade 2 or higher in the past five years, nine companies contracted with LH. These companies signed 203 design and supervision contracts with LH from 2019 to the first half of this year, amounting to approximately 231.9 billion KRW.

D Company, which supervised another LH apartment complex where missing rebar was found, also recruited former officials from Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH), Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Seoul City, and Daegu Urban Corporation as executives.

This is why it is claimed that the ‘LPia (LH + Mafia)’ collusion among former LH employees is widespread in the supervision industry (construction supervision and execution). In fact, during the National Assembly audit last October, it was revealed that LH signed contracts worth 805.1 billion KRW (150 cases) with companies re-employed by former LH employees of grade 2 or higher over the past seven years (2016 to June 2022).

Given this situation, there is a saying that supervision at sites commissioned by LH is ‘more or less meaningless.’ For supervision to function properly, it is crucial that supervisors are not influenced by the client or the construction company, but with the current supervision structure dominated by LPia, proper supervision cannot be conducted.

Industry insiders and experts point out that the excessive authority of LH and the LPia problem are ruining the supervision industry.

Professor Park Chang-geun of the Department of Civil Engineering at Catholic Kwandong University said, "It is an open secret that former LH employees move to design or supervision companies," adding, "There are widespread rumors that favors are granted before and after service evaluations as retirement approaches." He further criticized, "Supervision companies that recruit former LH officials tend to have reduced budgets, resulting in retired elderly individuals often being assigned to supervise sites."

A representative from a supervision company stated, "Former LH officials receive enormous salaries and business expenses," adding, "This causes companies to reduce supervision budgets, making it difficult to hire competent supervisors who can identify problems throughout the design and construction processes."