Police investigating the collapse of the Seosomun overpass have booked four officials from the construction company as suspects.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jeong-bo announced at a regular press briefing held at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Naeja-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on Monday that three safety managers and personnel, including the on-site manager and employees of Heunghwa, the contractor for the Seosomun overpass demolition project, have been booked on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
"The police are investigating charges of professional negligence resulting in death, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor is handling charges related to violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act," Park said. "We are conducting a detailed analysis of materials secured through on-site forensic investigations and search and seizure operations, and will conduct a strict investigation in cooperation with the prosecution and the Ministry of Employment and Labor."
Police plan to comprehensively examine the causes of the overpass collapse, including structural issues with the construction work. Seoul city government officials, currently classified as witnesses, may also face investigation in the future.
Meanwhile, Park strongly denied criticism from political circles describing the search and seizure operations as "interference in the local elections." On October 29, police carried out search and seizure operations at seven locations, including the Seoul Metropolitan Infrastructure Headquarters, the headquarters and on-site offices of the prime contractor and subcontractors. "In cases like this, the process of securing evidence in the early stages is extremely important. Conducting search and seizure operations as quickly as possible determines the success or failure of the investigation," Park said. "We carried out the search and seizure purely from an investigative standpoint without any other considerations, so it is difficult to agree with such criticism." Earlier, Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party's candidate for Seoul mayor, had described the police search and seizure as "blatant election interference."
