Safety

Calamities Continue to Plague South Korea Construction

korean highway bridge fatalities — Alamy Stock Photo

Four workers were killed and six others were injured in February after bridge sections collapsed during construction in Anseong, south of Seoul.
*Photo: Sun Yiran/Xinhua/Alamy Live News*

South Korea, which elected a new president this week, has so far this year suffered two dramatic fatal collapses that addto the country's troubling construction safety record.

Government officials in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport say there were 1,211 construction deaths and 30,340 injuriefrom 2020 to 2024, according to ChosunBiz.

On April 11, a subway tunnel under construction in Gwangmyeong, south of Seoul, collapsed. One worker was injured and the body of a missing worker was discovered six days later.

The collapse damaged and forced the closing of several nearby buildings.

That accident also triggered South Korean prosecutors to file charges of occupational negligence against one official from Pohang-based project contractor POSCO E&C, a subcontractor and a project supervision service, reports the Yonhap News Agency. The firm's CEO said that the company "will come up with thorough measures to prevent a recurrence and further strengthen the on-site safety management system."

In a statement to Korean media, the company added, "We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families and we hope that the rescued person's health will recover as soon as possible, and we deeply apologize to local residents who are anxious and uncomfortable in this accident."

In late February, four workers died and six others sustained injuries when a highway bridge being built in Anseong, also south of Seoul, collapsed during construction, news media reported.

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The news media cited fire and rescue services as the sources of information about the mishap.

Sections of the highway bridge, supported by 160-ft-tall concrete columns, collapsed one after another after being hoisted into place by a crane, Reuters reported.

KEYWORDS: construction accidents

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.

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