LH employee who testified in fatal Osan retaining wall collapse found dead

A Korea Land and Housing Corporation employee who testified at a hearing on the Osan retaining wall collapse that killed a driver during heavy rains in July was found dead earlier this month.

Firefighters respond after a retaining wall under an overpass collapsed and crushed a vehicle passing beneath at the Gajang Interchange in Osan, Gyeonggi, on July 16. [GYEONGGI FIRE AND DISASTER HEADQUARTERS]

A Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employee who testified at a hearing on the Osan retaining wall collapse that killed a driver during heavy rains in July was found dead earlier this month.

The employee was discovered dead around 1 a.m. on Sept. 1 in a wooded area in Jinju, according to the Jinju Police Precinct in South Gyeongsang on Tuesday. Police launched a search after receiving an emergency call from a colleague at 12:24 a.m. and located the body about 30 minutes later.

The colleague told police he had received a text message at 12:10 a.m., in which the employee wrote that he felt “lonely and exhausted because of the Osan retaining wall project.”

No note was found, and investigators ruled out foul play and closed the case on Sept. 16.

The employee, who lived in Gyeonggi, worked at LH headquarters in Jinju and had served as a site supervisor from 2006 to 2012 for the 4.9-kilometer (3.04-mile) western bypass road construction project in Osan, Gyeonggi.

A 10-meter-high (33-foot-high) retaining wall on the elevated road’s Gajang Intersection collapsed on July 16 after heavy rainfall, crushing a passenger car and killing its driver. LH was the project’s client, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction as the contractor.

Firefighters carry out rescue operations after a retaining wall under an overpass collapsed and crushed a vehicle at the Gajang Interchange in Osan, Gyeonggi, around 7:04 p.m. on July 16. [GYEONGGI FIRE AND DISASTER HEADQUARTERS]

The employee appeared at a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport hearing on Aug. 28, where he testified and was asked to submit related documents. Other LH employees, as well as officials from Hyundai E&C and Osan, also attended.

Police are investigating whether negligence in construction or maintenance contributed to the collapse. However, investigators stressed the LH employee who died was not a suspect.

An official from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency’s special investigation team said they learned of his death only when contacted by Jinju police and had no plans to summon him.

“He was not under investigation nor even called as a witness,” the official said. “We did request additional documents from LH, but we never contacted LH headquarters directly.”

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This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY AN DAE-HUN, SON SUNG-BAE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]