GS E&C banned from new construction deals for 8 months

The South Korean government said on Thursday it has ordered GS Engineering & Construction Corp. (GS E&C) and four smaller builders to halt their operations for new projects between Apr. 1 and Nov. 30 over last April's collapse at an apartment construction site in Incheon.

GS E&C and the four partner companies, Dongbu Corp., Daebo Engineering & Construction Co., Sangha Construction and Asia General Construction, will be banned from seeking new projects, such as bidding or closing deals.  

The five builders are allowed to continue their projects if the deal was signed or they had begun construction before the order by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

GS E&C said it will file for an injunction against the ministry’s ruling. Depending on the result, the government may impose a reduced period for the suspension or change its starting date.

The accident took place at the underground parking garage of a premium apartment construction site in Incheon on Apr. 29 of last year. The roof layer of the garage, the planned site of a children’s playground, collapsed to the second floor of the underground parking lot. There were no human casualties.

The government imposed penalties on the GS E&C consortium, citing that they had negligently constructed and caused significant damage to a major portion of the facility structure.

GS E&C officially apologized for the accident in May of last year, explaining that the collapsed part was built differently from what they designed.

Write to Jung-Rak An at jran@hankyung.com


Jihyun Kim edited this article.