Neither Korea Railroad Corp. (Korail) nor the Korea National Railway Authority had personnel on site during the demolition of Seoul's Seosomun overpass, where part of the structure collapsed on the 26th of this month, killing and injuring six people, the Seoul Economic Daily has confirmed. The two agencies argue that they are not the direct supervisory bodies and have no obligation to be present on site. But critics say the operators and managers of the rail line should have inspected the site themselves, given that the accident occurred in a high-risk construction zone within a railway protection district where trains pass frequently.
According to reporting compiled by the Seoul Economic Daily on the 29th, neither Korail nor the Authority had staff on site during demolition work directly above the Gyeongui Line tracks — the most hazardous section of the Seosomun overpass dismantling project. Korail says it was never briefed by the Seoul city government or the contractor. In a clarification statement issued on the 27th, the agency said, "We were not notified of the roughly 3-centimeter level discrepancy that emerged after the upper girder was cut overnight on the day of the accident," adding, "On the contrary, at around 4:25 a.m. we received a radio message from the work supervisor reporting normal completion." Korail also stressed that it had not been informed in advance of a separate safety inspection conducted during the daytime on the day of the accident.
Experts, however, say Korail and the Authority can also be considered key safety stakeholders under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's official guidelines on restricted activities in railway protection districts. Article 6 of the guidelines requires that when a hazardous construction notification is filed, a review must be requested from the railway operator and, if necessary, the site must be inspected. Article 8 grants safety inspection authority to railway operators and others, while Article 10 provides grounds for on-site attendance during hazardous work that could disrupt train operations. Cho Sung-il, head of the Rene Disaster Policy Institute, said, "When the Railway Authority, as the manager, receives a construction notification, it is required to review the need for safety measures together with Korail." He added, "It is hard to say these parties are entirely free of supervisory responsibility."
Given that the collapse occurred directly above active tracks, some argue that railway managers should be empowered to make on-the-spot judgments at the site — at least during high-risk work periods — to prevent a major disaster. "Cutting work directly above the tracks is the most dangerous and critical phase, so a specialized railway manager should have been on site supervising," Cho said. "Had they been present, they could have immediately halted train operations the moment the level discrepancy was discovered." Choi Myung-ki, a professor at the Korea Industrial Site Academy, also said, "Despite advance notification of the construction, trains appear to have run at normal speed without any deceleration measures. To prevent accidents, authorities should consider making on-site attendance by railway operators mandatory for high-risk work."
Meanwhile, the Seoul city government announced that, prompted by the accident, it will conduct special safety inspections from the 1st of next month for two months at 984 construction sites where hazardous processes such as demolition and excavation are under way. Police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the same day raided seven locations, including the Seoul Metropolitan Infrastructure Headquarters and the headquarters of the prime contractor and subcontractors, to verify compliance with safety measures.
