"Three Reports of Missing Rebar on GTX-A" "It Was Not an Official Report"

Seoul Metropolitan Government and the original client, Korea National Railway, clashed head-on over responsibility for missing rebar in the Samseong station section of Great Train eXpress (GTX)-A. Seoul said it had reported the missing rebar three times, but the railway agency strongly pushed back, saying those were not official reports.
On the 18th, Seoul Metropolitan Government strongly rejected criticism that it had reported the issue late despite knowing about the missing rebar at the site, releasing related official documents. The city said it had sent supervision reports that included missing main rebar in the columns to Korea National Railway three times by official letter. The dates Seoul cited were Nov. 13 and Dec. 12 last year, and Jan. 16 this year.
The city explained, "After receiving notice from the contractor, we immediately carried out an on-site safety inspection," and added, "A structural safety review found that the load currently acting on the columns is within a level the building columns can sufficiently bear." It said construction continued after structural engineers confirmed there was no safety issue with the structure, and that when considering reinforcement methods, it comprehensively reviewed structural stability, constructability, and future maintenance impacts.
By contrast, Korea National Railway expressed strong regret over Seoul's position, saying, "We have never received a direct report." It countered that while Seoul had been submitting monthly construction project management reports, the missing rebar issue was only found in a small part of the work log within a large report, and there had been no separate report or consultation.
The agency also said the summary of key construction management points submitted by Seoul did not reflect the missing rebar issue. It added that the item for construction failure cases was marked "none," making it difficult for the agency to grasp the facts.
Korea National Railway also claimed, "Seoul tried to substitute an official report on the missing rebar by sending an email on April 24 to an agency official, asking them to attend a consultative meeting on column reinforcement," and added, "After that, the agency requested a factual report from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea National Railway on April 28, and we came to understand the specific details the following day, the 29th."
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and others on the 17th, 50 of the 80 columns in the underground fifth-floor GTX platform section along Yeongdong-daero near Samseong station in Gangnam District, Seoul, were found not to meet structural safety standards. Due to an on-site mistake, the design drawing was misread, and the main rebar that should have been installed in two rows was built in a single row.
After confirming the construction error last month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport launched a special on-site inspection and is now reviewing overall structural safety and construction adequacy. The Korean National Police Agency also said it plans to begin an internal investigation into the construction errors, including the missing rebar, discovered that day.
ming@fnnews.com Jeon Min-kyung Jang In-seo reporter