In the words of American musician David Allan Coe, “It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time,” which clearly outlines what is required to prevent tragic construction accidents from occurring. Recently, following the sounds of concrete cracking, the outer wall of a Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park building collapsed. Mistakes happen, even with experts, but when it comes to building codes and safety measures, ensuring the safety of workers and residents should be a priority. Greed should be kept in check so that incidents like the collapse of the Gwangju apartment building can be averted. Therefore, stricter enforcement of building regulations must be imposed.

At around 3:46 P.M. on January 11, the fire department in Gwangju received a report regarding the collapse of the facade of a new apartment building under construction operated by the Hyundai Development Company (HDC). The exterior wall had fallen to pieces while the outermost wall connecting the 24th and 34th floors had caved in as the workers poured concrete on the 39th floor. After the collapse, the building looked like it was torn apart, and, during this time, it was verified that the workers pouring concrete on the top floor were unhurt.

As rescuers continued their search for the missing workers, the city government suspended all construction within Gwangju. On January 13, the body of one of the missing was discovered in the rubble and reclaimed the following day. The police employed cadaver dogs specializing in sniffing out corpses, 214 rescuers, five rescue dogs, and four drones to search for the other missing workers. Initially, there six trapped and missing workers in the building. However, as of February 8, the rescue workers successfully retrieved five more victims who were found under the rubble of the collapsed building. The bodies are recovered and believed to have died as well. This took place after last month’s incident. At the site, professional rescuers and well-trained individuals as well as canines work together in recovering those bodies. Now, plans to end the rescue operations are underway according to Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop as he sends condolences to grieving families and assist in funeral compensation.

Investigating the Incident

Prior to this incident, Gwangju had experienced another disaster involving HDC with the collapse of the Haksan building in Hakdong on June 9, 2021, which also resulted in numerous deaths and injuries. During the demolition of the building, it collapsed onto the road and a passing city bus, leaving nine passengers dead and wounding eight others. HDC was in charge of the demolition process and was subsequently placed under investigation under the orders of President Moon Jae-in. Negligence in the form of poor construction combined with the removal of the scaffolding and structural overload was deemed to be the cause of the Hakdong disaster. Another is the ill-defined scope of work of the dismantling construction supervisor of the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park building. With these causes, the HDC will suspend new construction projects for 20 months, and further punishments await.

According to Professor Ju Young Kyu (Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering), if building design, construction, supervision, and maintenance regulations are not strictly complied with, these accidents can occur. Thus, this disaster is the result of an accumulation of negligent actions by those involved in construction in the Gwangju area rather than a failure in domestic construction technology.

With this in mind, Gwangju held community-wide inspections on all of its construction areas headed by Mayor Lee Yong-seop. Preventive measures are also being planned to increase safety awareness. Plans for comprehensive safety assessments have also been announced by other provincial and metropolitan governments, such as South Jeolla Province, Cheongju, Daegu, Busan, and Daejeon. After the collapse of the Sampoong department store in 1995, the public's awareness of safety greatly increased, but it has since waned. One of the reasons for this is the negligence of executives and contractors. For instance, HDC was accused of rushing the I-Park project, which caused the collapse. For the Sampoong department store, corner-cutting and irresponsibility in following established safety measures were responsible.

Solutions to Avoid Future Incidents

The Gwangju police have arrested a total of nine people in relation to the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse, while Chung Mong-gyu, Chairman of HDC Group, has made a decision to step down from his position on January 11, six days after the outer wall of the new construction area of Hwajeong I-Park collapsed owing to the responsibility over Gwangju accident. He clarified that the apartment building is open to the likelihood of being reconstructed or demolished. He has also stressed that safe management of the site will be ensured while rescue operations continue to find the missing workers.

To respond to the ongoing concerns over these building collapses, three initiatives are poised to take effect. One of these is the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA), which was announced on January 26, 2021, and which will come into effect on January 27. This applies to worksites with more than 50 employees and focuses on preventing accidents and promoting the welfare of the workers by raising health and safety awareness. The articles of the act are detailed, covering the establishment of policies, duties of company owners, accident prevention plans, safety and health signage and management, reporting, and other pertinent information. This raises the burden of liability on companies and their top management.

In summary, Professor Ju argues that we are all responsible for preventing these types of incident. These disasters should serve not only as a lesson but also as a reminder of what occurs when safety is disregarded. In constructing a building, its foundation must not be compromised. Negligence should never be overlooked and building supervisor as well as the workers and other people involved in constructing buildings must all undergo strengthening job training. This means making an improvement on the Building Management Act which aims to improve functions and safety of buildings and promote the welfare of workers and others. The involvement and effort of each individual is indispensable in order that the responsibility of the entire field personnel and the building system can be determined to prevent the same incident from reoccurring.