'5 Additional Rebar Omissions'... LH President: "Doing Our Best for Organizational Innovation, Position Depends on Government's Will"

Reliability of Full Survey Decreases Due to Internal Report Omissions
LH President "Received Resignations from All Executive Directors"
Announcement of Reform for a 'Compact Organization Serving the Public'

Han-Jun Lee, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), emphasized personnel and organizational reform on the 11th in relation to the loss of credibility in the full inspection of underground parking lot flat slab structures, and stated that he would follow the government's will regarding his future position. He expressed a "heartbreaking feeling" about seeking external help due to the limitations of innovation on his own.

Han Jun Lee, President of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), is speaking about his future plans at an emergency press conference held on the 11th at the LH Seoul Regional Headquarters. / Photo by Kyungjo Noh

On the morning of the 11th, President Lee held an emergency press conference at the LH Seoul Regional Headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, saying, "As the first step to fundamentally innovate LH, which lacks basics such as hierarchy and system, I have received resignation letters from all standing directors," and added, "I will also follow the will of the government, including the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who has the authority to appoint me."

After the collapse accident of the underground parking lot at a public apartment in Geomdan New Town, Incheon, at the end of April, LH conducted a full inspection of flat slab structure complexes and announced the results on July 30. The investigation covered 91 complexes, and it was announced that reinforcement work would be carried out in 15 complexes deemed to be deficient. However, just ten days later, on the 9th of this month, it was revealed that some sites had been omitted from the full inspection.

Meanwhile, it was found that five complexes were excluded from the announcement based on the employees' own judgment that the omissions were "minor." It was also additionally confirmed that one more complex was missing from the full inspection target. Ultimately, the full inspection target is 102 complexes, with 20 complexes having completed or ongoing reinforcement work.

President Lee explained, "When announcing the full inspection results, complexes with fewer than five omitted rebars and immediate reinforcement completed, posing no safety concerns, were excluded based on internal judgment. However, given the growing public anxiety about flat slab structures, we decided to disclose all information transparently as a management decision and make an additional announcement."

The five complexes in question are Block B10 in Hwaseong Namyang New Town, Gyeonggi Province; Block A7 in Sosabeol, Pyeongtaek; Block A37 in Unjeong 3 District, Paju (all completed); as well as Block A4 in Janghang, Goyang, and the Iksan Peace Complex. President Lee emphasized that he would promptly carry out reinforcement measures in consultation with residents for a total of 20 complexes.

Regarding the background of the delayed addition of complexes omitted from the full inspection target, he cited internal system issues such as lack of communication. President Lee lamented, "I received a report yesterday afternoon that five complexes were omitted, but I learned this only through a third party. I wondered whether it was right for engineers themselves to judge the matter as minor and exclude it from the report without realizing how important this situation is, and whether this was too complacent."

He added, "Although 14 years have passed since the merger of the Land Corporation and Housing Corporation in 2009, the excessive bloating of the organization has caused the reporting system to malfunction and made responsibility unclear. I will do my best as long as I am here to innovate and create a small but strong LH that can serve the public."

President Lee hinted at organizational scale and personnel restructuring. One example is removing the authority to select supervision companies. He said, "We will drastically reduce the headquarters organization and also reduce the internal staff of regional headquarters to strengthen on-site execution capabilities. We will reform into a compact organization through organizational diagnosis."

However, he showed a heartbreaking feeling about seeking external help for organizational innovation. Earlier, LH requested the police to investigate employees related to the 15 complexes with omitted rebars. The Fair Trade Commission and the Board of Audit and Inspection are conducting comprehensive investigations into collusion and the former official cartel, and audits on public interest audit requests, respectively.