Land Ministry Forms Accident Investigation Committee to Determine Cause of 'Gwangju Representative Library Collapse'

Four-Month Investigation Launched
Committee Chaired by Professor Choi Byeongjeong of Kyonggi University

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 16th that it has formed a Construction Accident Investigation Committee to determine the cause of the collapse at the Gwangju Representative Library, which recently claimed the lives of four workers.

This investigation committee is chaired by Choi Byeongjeong, a professor at Kyonggi University and an expert in steel and architectural structures. The committee consists of 12 external experts from industry, academia, and research institutes, all of whom have no conflicts of interest related to the accident.

The committee will operate for four months starting from this day. The period may be extended depending on the progress of the investigation.

The collapse site of Gwangju Representative Library in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, on the afternoon of the 11th. Photo by Yonhap News.

The committee held a kickoff meeting near the accident site in Gwangju on the afternoon of the same day and officially began its investigation. The committee plans to comprehensively examine the adequacy of preliminary procedures such as the safety management plan and construction plan, as well as review structural issues and problems in the design phase, including the preparation of design documents.

They will also check for construction defects in special methods such as PC composite beams, steel frames, and deck plates, and will inspect quality and safety management during the concrete pouring process. In addition, the committee will closely review whether each party involved in the project-including the ordering agency, the contractor, and the supervisor-fulfilled their respective obligations, as well as the subcontractor selection process and any delays in the construction timeline, to develop measures to prevent recurrence.

This accident occurred on the afternoon of the 11th at the site of the new library being built on the former Sangmu Incineration Plant site in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju. During construction, a structure collapsed, burying four workers, all of whom were later found dead after a search operation.