Members of the Democratic Party's Administrative Safety Committee criticized Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, on May 18 for allegedly hiding behind attachments regarding the rebar omission during the construction of the GTX-A Samsung Station. This response came after a city official claimed during a committee meeting that they had reported to the Korea Railroad Corporation monthly.
During a press conference at the National Assembly, including committee member Yoon Geon-young, the Democratic lawmakers stated, "The People Power Party claims that the Seoul city government has already reported this through official documents, but the evidence presented consists of just a few pages from a 400-500 page monthly construction management report."
They further criticized the city for being aware of the issue but failing to adequately share it with relevant agencies for immediate action. "Although the city conducted joint inspections and progress meetings several times after recognizing the problem, there is no evidence that they officially discussed or actively communicated the structural defect that directly impacts citizen safety."
They emphasized, "If significant structural issues were managed internally for months, this is not merely a case of administrative negligence. Claiming 'we already reported it' while burying critical safety issues in hundreds of pages of documents is not a responsible administrative stance. Oh must answer directly."
In response to the People Power Party's announcement of plans to file complaints against the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and MBC, Yoon remarked, "What the People Power Party is trying to do is protect Oh Se-hoon and divert attention. They seem afraid that the public will see Oh's performative administration that disregards the safety of Seoul citizens."
Democratic lawmaker Ko Min-jeong also stated, "This is about protecting Oh rather than ensuring the safety of 10 million citizens."
When asked whether the Democratic Party would take legal action against Oh, lawmaker Oh Gi-hyung replied, "Legal measures could be taken after confirming the facts."
Oh Se-hoon previously attributed the controversy to the construction company, Hyundai Engineering & Construction. At a seminar on the evaluation of the real estate policies of the Lee Jae-myung administration, he remarked, "Isn't it the Democratic Party that feels a sense of crisis as their support rates fluctuate? It seems they are determined to use the rebar incident as a campaign issue."
He added, "As mentioned in the committee meeting this morning, this is an absurd situation. We handled it according to the manual and principles, but it turned into a misunderstanding as they tried to frame it as a cover-up."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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