Four workers died in the major industrial accident
Ministry of Employment and Labor says basic safety measures were ignored, including failure to follow structural design specifications
Four supervisors from general contractor and subcontractors detained; investigation into remaining suspects continues
Four people have been detained in connection with the collapse at the Gwangju Representative Library construction site that killed four workers.
The Gwangju Regional Employment and Labor Office said Friday it had arrested four individuals — two site managers from the general contractor and a subcontractor, the subcontractor's chief executive, and a field operations manager — on charges of violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The arrests stem from the collapse at the site on Dec. 11 last year.
The accident, classified as a serious industrial disaster, occurred when a steel structure collapsed at the Gwangju Representative Library construction site last December, killing four workers on the job.
Labor authorities reviewed evidence gathered through on-site investigations and search and seizure operations, an accident-cause analysis report from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and expert assessments. They concluded the collapse resulted from a failure to implement basic safety measures, including construction that did not comply with structural design specifications.
"We have established that the accident occurred because basic safety measures were not followed, including failure to adhere to the construction methods specified in the structural design documents," the Ministry of Employment and Labor said.
The Gwangju Regional Employment and Labor Office said the suspects' criminal liability had been sufficiently established and that some had denied the charges and attempted to evade responsibility. It added that it sought arrest warrants due to concerns about evidence destruction and flight risk, as well as the need to prevent similar accidents in the future.
Labor authorities plan to complete the investigation into the detained suspects promptly and refer the case to prosecutors, while continuing to investigate the remaining individuals involved.
The ministry said it would use this case as an opportunity to more actively deploy coercive investigative measures — including search and seizure operations and detention — against workplaces that fail to observe basic safety rules or repeatedly experience similar accidents, not only those involving serious industrial disasters.
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