Police crack down on illegally subcontracted safety inspections as risk from aging infrastructure grows
Published: 19 Nov. 2025, 15:49
![Firefighters carry out rescue operations after a 10-meter-high retaining wall under an overpass collapsed and crushes a vehicle at Gajang Interchange in Osan, Gyeonggi, around 7:04 p.m. on July 16. [GYEONGGI FIRE AND DISASTER HEADQUARTERS]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/19/7bc24af3-d67a-42b8-8433-2147a199bdd5.jpg)
Firefighters carry out rescue operations after a 10-meter-high retaining wall under an overpass collapsed and crushes a vehicle at Gajang Interchange in Osan, Gyeonggi, around 7:04 p.m. on July 16. [GYEONGGI FIRE AND DISASTER HEADQUARTERS]
As concerns grow over the integrity of safety inspections across Korea’s aging infrastructure, police say they have uncovered a widespread pattern of illegal subcontracting that may be putting public safety at risk.
Police have apprehended 40 people, including the heads of firms that illegally subcontracted safety inspections for major public facilities, amid mounting criticism that lax inspections contributed to recent infrastructure failures such as the 2023 Seongnam Jeongja Bridge collapse and the retaining wall collapse in Osan in July.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Wednesday that it booked 40 individuals — including representatives of firms that illegally subcontracted safety inspections or carried out inspections without the legally required registration. The illegal activity took place between May 2023 and March this year and involved inspections and design work for local governments and public agencies on facilities such as bridges and tunnels.
According to police, 34 of the suspects are related to illegal subcontracting, while six are representatives of unregistered firms that performed safety inspection work without authorization. Police notified 26 ordering agencies, including local governments, of the violations and requested stronger oversight of subcontracting practices and safety assessments.
The Special Act on the Safety Control and Maintenance of Establishments, enacted following the 1994 collapse of the Seongsu Bridge, bans subcontracting to prevent shoddy inspections and requires safety checks to be carried out only by registered firms equipped with a certain level of manpower and equipment.
![A regular safety inspection report made by a safety inspection firm that illegally subcontracts work on major structures such as bridges and tunnels, left, alongside fake tax invoices [SEOUL METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/19/c74f44e0-aa09-486b-8d61-fe3d87855aca.jpg)
A regular safety inspection report made by a safety inspection firm that illegally subcontracts work on major structures such as bridges and tunnels, left, alongside fake tax invoices [SEOUL METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]
However, in both the Jeongja Bridge collapse in Seongnam and the Osan retaining wall collapse, investigators found that required safety inspections had violated these rules. Individuals connected to the cases are currently facing trial or investigation.
In the Osan case, police said large safety inspection firms won major contracts but then passed the work down at cut rates to smaller companies when they lacked sufficient in-house staff to carry out the projects. Those subcontracted firms then re-subcontracted the work to unregistered operators.
Some primary contractors are suspected of temporarily registering subcontractor employees as their own staff or issuing fake tax invoices to evade detection. Others created multiple branch offices nationwide to increase their chances of winning regionally restricted bids.
“Illegal subcontracting can lead directly to poor safety management and pose a serious threat to public safety,” police said, adding that they will intensify crackdowns on collusion and corruption tied to illegal subcontracting.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE AH-MI [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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