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Top court upholds 6-year sentence of supervisor in connection with 2023 underpass flooding disaster

Published: 15 Apr. 2025, 15:09

Fire authorities conduct a rescue operation after an underpass in Osong-up in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, flash-flooded on July 15, 2023. [NEWS1]

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a six-year prison sentence for a construction site supervisor found guilty of negligence and evidence tampering in connection with the deadly flooding of an underpass in Osong, North Chungcheong, in July 2023.

The court affirmed the appellate ruling that convicted the supervisor of occupational negligence resulting in death and injury, as well as instructing the falsification of documents to cover up his role in the disaster.

The supervisor, who had overseen the Osong-Cheongju road expansion project since July 2020, was responsible for making a series of construction decisions that contributed to the disaster, according to the court ruling.

From September to October 2021, workers under his direction partially dismantled a levee along the Miho Stream. Although the embankment was temporarily rebuilt in June 2022, ahead of the summer monsoon season, it was removed again during construction in October. In late June 2023, just weeks before the flooding, the team hastily rebuilt a makeshift levee by piling soil without proper reinforcement or waterproofing.

During the July 2023 monsoon, torrential rains triggered a flood warning at the nearby Miho Bridge. The river overflowed, and the fragile temporary embankment completely collapsed. At around 8:51 a.m. on July 15, 2023, floodwaters surged into the Gungpyeong 2nd underpass.

Nine people in vehicles traveling through the underpass drowned and 14 others were injured.

A police investigation also found the supervisor conspired with others to fabricate documents, including a forged blueprint of the temporary embankment. The materials were uploaded to the project office and emailed to an official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to be used as false evidence.

In the initial trial, the court found the supervisor guilty of most of the charges, including failing to obtain river-use permits when dismantling the original embankment, violating safety obligations by building a structurally unsound levee and neglecting emergency flood response duties. He was also convicted of instructing the falsification and use of fabricated evidence and was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

However, the appeals court reduced the sentence to six years, citing his partial admission of wrongdoing and signs of remorse.

The supervisor argued before the Supreme Court that there was no causal link between his actions and the deaths and claimed procedural violations of his rights. The court dismissed these arguments and affirmed the lower court's decision.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY KIM JEONG-YEON [[email protected]]