Mayor Park Seungwon Strikes Deal with POSCO E&C: Shinansan Line Accident Section to Undergo "Virtually Full Reconstruction"

Mayor Park Secures Firm Commitment from POSCO E&C for Full Reinforcement of Facilities

Agreement Reached on Compensation for Bus Rerouting Losses

Administrative Expenses to Be Negotiated Immediately After Sajo Committee Completion

Mayor Park: "Significant Progress Achieved on Ensuring Public Infrastructure Safety"

Seungwon Park, Mayor of Gwangmyeong, has demonstrated strong administrative leadership toward POSCO E&C, the construction firm responsible for the Shinansan Line collapse, successfully securing concrete safety measures and compensation plans.

Seungwon Park, Mayor of Gwangmyeong (left), visited the headquarters of POSCO E&C in Songdo, Incheon on the 31st and met with Chiyoung Song, President of POSCO E&C, receiving a firm commitment on the full reinforcement of major facilities near the Shinsansan Line accident site and prompt compensation for damages. Provided by Gwangmyeong City

On March 31, Mayor Park visited the headquarters of POSCO E&C in Songdo, Incheon, met with President Chiyoung Song, and announced that he had received a firm commitment to reinforce key facilities near the accident site at the level of "full reconstruction" and to provide prompt compensation for damages.

During the meeting, Mayor Park conveyed the voices of citizens who have suffered for nearly a year since the accident, and succeeded in extracting a practical commitment to ensure safety at the accident site and to compensate for public losses.

This was the second meeting between Mayor Park and President Song, following their initial meeting in October last year, when President Song visited the mayor's office to formally apologize for the accident and pledged to prevent recurrence and compensate residents and small business owners for damages.

Despite having previously held a strongly worded press conference condemning the construction firm and continuously demanding active accountability, Mayor Park decided to directly demand decisive action from President Song when reinforcement methods for the site’s infrastructure and some compensation measures showed little progress.

The most significant outcome of this meeting was a fundamental change in the reinforcement methods for the box culvert (rectangular passage structure under the road) and drainage culvert (pipe-shaped underground drain to remove standing water from the road) near the accident section.

It was agreed to shift from the previous repair approach to a "complete reconstruction" level of reinforcement, essentially rebuilding these structures from scratch.

Mayor Park stressed, "Simple repairs alone can never dispel the deep anxiety of citizens," and strongly requested that safety reinforcement work at the accident site be restarted from the beginning.

In response, President Song clearly expressed his commitment to safety, stating, "We will implement robust measures at the level of full reconstruction—not just simple reinforcements—for major facilities."

Currently, the box culvert near Ori-ro, where the accident occurred, remains closed, and concerns about further damage have continued due to significant deterioration in the durability of the nearby drainage culvert as a result of ground subsidence.

In addition, the previously stalled procedure for compensating administrative losses has now reached a substantive agreement on the compensation items and cost calculation.

First, a final agreement has been reached on the calculation of additional costs and losses incurred from rerouting bus lines due to the accident, and only the coordination of a detailed payment schedule for actual compensation remains.

Furthermore, regarding administrative expenses such as the operating costs of the Integrated Support Center and the Underground Accident Investigation Committee (Sajo Committee) that were involved in the investigation and response, it was agreed that as soon as Gwangmyeong City's Sajo Committee completes its activities, discussions will immediately begin based on the city’s calculated costs.

However, Mayor Park made it clear that such administrative agreements cannot be used to justify delays in compensating individual residents.

He emphasized, "More important than negotiations over city-owned facilities or administrative expenses is the tangible compensation that affected residents feel," adding, "Now that we have reached broad agreement on facility reinforcement and public loss compensation through today's meeting, the final piece—resident compensation—must be quickly resolved."

Despite most compensation measures being in progress, Mayor Park is directly overseeing the stalled negotiations on certain individual compensation cases and strongly urged the construction firm to actively engage in negotiations to a level that residents can accept.

President Song responded, "I deeply empathize with the concerns of Gwangmyeong City and its residents, and I will personally ensure the thorough implementation of the agreed safety measures. I will also take a proactive approach to resolving the issue of individual compensation and do my utmost to quickly address conflicts with the local community."

Concluding the meeting, Mayor Park stated, "Through bodies such as the Citizen Safety Public-Private Council, we will rigorously monitor the implementation of this agreement and focus all administrative efforts to ensure residents’ demands are not neglected on the ground."

Meanwhile, the "Shinansan Line Citizen Safety Public-Private Council" is a permanent communication and safety management body composed of Gwangmyeong City, companies involved in the Shinansan Line construction, and representatives of residents from Iljik-dong.

Last December, Gwangmyeong City held a strongly worded press conference condemning POSCO E&C and repeatedly demanded the establishment of an official council to jointly inspect and share progress on safety and fair management throughout the construction process to prevent recurrence. POSCO E&C accepted these demands, and the official launch of the council took place this past February.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.