Government to push 10-month suspension for GS E&C

The Korean government announced Sunday it will push to suspend GS E&C's operations for 10 months for its responsibility in the April collapse at an underground parking garage of an apartment complex in Geomdan-dong, Incheon.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong reads a document during a meeting Sunday to discuss the collapse of an underground parking lot at an apartment complex under construction in Incheon in April. [NEWS1]

The Korean government announced Sunday it will push to suspend GS E&C's operations for 10 months for its responsibility in the April collapse at an underground parking garage of an apartment complex in Geomdan-dong, Incheon.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday it will suspend the operations of the GS E&C consortium that was building the apartment complex in Incheon for shoddy construction. The ministry will also ask Seoul's city government to suspend the GS E&C consortium’s operations for another two months for poor safety monitoring.

“I feel great responsibility for causing anxiety to people regarding resident safety due to faulty construction,” said Land Minister Won Hee-ryong on Sunday.

“We will address this matter with the heaviest penalty possible under the law and counter the cartel culture pervasive in the construction scene so that people can feel safe around their residential environment.”

In April, an underground parking garage of an apartment complex that GS E&C was building collapsed. The accident was later determined to have been caused by missing reinforcing bars in the parking lot pillars. There were flaws in the design layout as well as in the process of the construction, according to the special committee formed to investigate into the accident.

The accident resulted in no deaths or injuries.

The ministry also said Sunday it would ask Seoul's city government to cancel the architect registration of Usun, the designer of the apartment complex, or suspend its operations for two years.

A collapsed underground parking lot in Geomdan-dong in Incheon in May [NEWS1]

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]