By Yun Suh-young
The families of four construction workers killed in a fire Monday at the building site of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, near Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, claim the tragedy was caused by subcontractors exerting pressure to speed up the project and that fire extinguishers and safety procedure education were not provided.
Additionally, Seoul Mayor, Park Won-soon criticized the manner in which the project has so far been conducted in a posting on his Facebook page.
“Apparently, the construction project was to be finished by the end of President Lee’s administration. After I became the mayor, I got rid of the rule of finishing a construction project within an administration. I think what’s important is not to finish early but to create a real piece of art,” said Park.
At a press conference Tuesday morning held in front of the building site, GS Engineering and Construction, in charge of the construction, denied any accusations of hasty progress or negligence.
“It usually takes two years to construct an apartment building. A three¬story building like this takes about a year to be completed,” said an official from GS. He continued, “In regards to fire extinguishing equipment, by law, incomplete construction sites aren’t obliged to have fire extinguishing facilities. All construction sites lack such a system.” A Korea Times reporter asked under which law this is provided for, but a public relations representative for GS was unable to find a legal reference to support the statement. The Chosun Ilbo local daily also highlighted the same information in its coverage of the fire, but also did not provide any reference in law. The GS representative cited the Chosun Ilbo as his source for the legal provision.
The bereaved families of the four killed went to the site on Tuesday to state their claim that necessary procedures and safety education were neglected.
Workers evacuated from the site Monday, said there were rumors on the site that the project had to be completed within the term of the present administration, and that this could have led to cutting corners and the bypassing of safety regulations.
The police, the National Forensic Service and the National Emergency Management Agency plan to conduct a thorough investigation of the site. The results of this will be announced Thursday.
Seung Hyo-sang, president of IROJE architects said to another local daily that such construction usually takes about four years to complete and that it was irresponsible to begin work without completing a surface exploration.
The project was conceived in January 2009 when President Lee Myung-bak stated in a New Year’s address that the former site of the Defense Security Command would be transformed into an art museum.
So far, one third of the construction work on the 75 billion won project has been completed. Work began in December last year and is expected to be finished next February, according to the GS Engineering and Construction official.