Sungbo Kim, Acting Mayor of Seoul: "No Intent to Conceal Missing Rebar in GTX Construction"

Attends National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee Inquiry
"No Structural Abnormalities at Present, but Reinforcement Needed"

Sungbo Kim, acting mayor of Seoul, stated there was neither any intention nor attempt to conceal the missing rebar construction at Samsung Station on the GTX-A line.

Seongbo Kim, acting mayor of Seoul, appeared at the plenary session of the Public Administration and Security Committee at the National Assembly on the 26th and responded to questions regarding the omission of rebar in the GTX project. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim made this statement on the 26th while attending the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee as a witness for a pending issue inquiry.

On this day, Ko Minjung, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, questioned whether the missing rebar was explicitly mentioned in the subject or summary of the official letter that Seoul City reported to the National Railroad Authority. During the questioning, Kim emphasized that not only Seoul City but also the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had determined at this stage that there were no safety issues caused by the missing rebar.

Park Sungjoon, another Democratic Party lawmaker, pointed out that Kim had said at a press conference the previous day that "there is no structural risk" regarding the missing rebar, criticizing, "That is why the citizens of Seoul are so shocked."

In response, Kim explained, "To clarify the press conference statement, the phrase was 'it has been confirmed that there is no abnormality in the current state of the structure,' and the subject of that statement was the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport." He added, "It was not my statement, but an explanation that the ministry, through this procedure, confirmed that there is no abnormality in the current state of the structure."

When Kwon Chilsung, chair of the Public Administration and Security Committee, requested that Kim give his personal opinion, not the ministry's, Kim replied, "In my view, there are no structural issues and the structure can bear the load up to the third basement level in its current state, but reinforcement is necessary for safe construction and opening."

Kim also explained that during his statement at Seoul City Hall the previous day, even after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed the missing rebar, a total of 94 non-stop test runs were conducted at Samsung Station from May 4 to May 19. This was to clarify that the ministry also recognizes that there are no safety concerns at this stage.

Kim further explained the reason he was not informed of the missing rebar despite visiting the construction site on November 5 last year.

Oh Ki-hyung, a Democratic Party lawmaker, asked about the circumstances of the site visit, raising suspicions that Kim might have played a leading role in systematically concealing the missing rebar.

Kim replied, "At that time, the visit was prompted by the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee's audit, which raised issues regarding excessive working hours among underground workers at the Yeongdong-daero construction site," and clarified that he had not received any reports related to the missing rebar.

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