Prosecutors Appeal First Trial Verdict in Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park Disaster, Citing "Unfair Sentencing"

"Acquittal of CEOs and Others Is a Misjudgment of Facts and Misunderstanding of Legal Principles"

The prosecution has filed an appeal against the first trial verdict for 20 defendants involved in the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse incident.

On the 24th, the Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office announced that it had appealed the first trial verdict that acquitted six individuals, including the CEOs and safety managers of HDC Hyundai Development Company (the main contractor) and Gahyeon Construction (the subcontractor), citing reasons such as factual misjudgment, misunderstanding of legal principles, and unfair sentencing, and called for a retrial.

Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office. Photo by Song Bohyun

The prosecution pointed out issues with the first trial court's judgment that "the main and subcontractor representatives did not have a specific duty of care to prevent the accident and causality was not recognized."

They also argued that it was a mistake to exclude 'poor concrete strength' as one of the causes of the accident in the judgment.

Regarding the sentencing of the defendants who were found guilty, the prosecution stated, "The defendants shifted responsibility onto each other and did not show sincere remorse," and added, "Considering the scale of the damage, a heavier sentence should have been imposed."

Hwajeong I-Park Collapse Accident 3rd Anniversary Memorial Ceremony. Yonhap News

Meanwhile, at around 3:46 p.m. on January 11, 2022, a collapse occurred at the construction site of Building 201 of Hwajeong I-Park in Seo-gu, Gwangju, where HDC Hyundai Development Company was carrying out new construction. The 39th floor, which was undergoing concrete pouring, collapsed, resulting in the deaths of six workers and injuries to one. The investigation found that the accident was caused by a combination of unauthorized changes to construction methods without structural review and the arbitrary removal of shoring that supported the upper floors.

Three years after the accident, at the sentencing of those responsible on the 20th, the court handed down prison terms of up to four years to the site managers of Hyundai Development Company and the subcontractor. However, former executives of Hyundai Development Company who had been indicted on the same charges were acquitted on the grounds that they did not bear direct responsibility for the accident.