275 construction sites under 10 public institutions targeted

Ministry, 10 agencies to hold kickoff meeting Thursday

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will conduct an intensive crackdown on illegal subcontracting from Monday through Dec. 31. Pictured is a housing reconstruction site in Seoul. [Herald DB]
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will conduct an intensive crackdown on illegal subcontracting from Monday through Dec. 31. Pictured is a housing reconstruction site in Seoul. [Herald DB]

The government will conduct an intensive crackdown on illegal subcontracting at public construction sites through the end of the year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced Wednesday that it has designated the period from Monday to Dec. 31 as an intensive crackdown period on illegal subcontracting, and plans to carry out joint inspections with 10 public institutions — Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), Korea National Railway, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea Water Resources Corporation, Korea Rural Community Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation, Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation and Seoul Metro.

The government selected 275 sites from among those commissioned by these public institutions — identified through AI and other tools as suspected or reported cases of illegal subcontracting — and plans to deploy at least 130 inspectors.

The ministry will also make active use of a whistleblower reward system to encourage reporting of illegal subcontracting. Reports submitted by workers or third parties with knowledge of violations will be promptly verified and followed by on-site inspections, with administrative action taken swiftly. In June, the ministry eased the evidentiary requirements for filing illegal subcontracting reports, abolished the cap on reward payments and revised the system to allow rewards of up to 30 percent of the penalty surcharge imposed.

In addition, contractors that voluntarily report illegal subcontracting during the crackdown period and complete corrective measures within a set timeframe will be eligible for a reduction of up to half of their administrative penalty.

The ministry said an amendment to the enforcement decree of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry — allowing for reduced administrative penalties — was revised in September and is set to take effect in January. Contractors that voluntarily report violations and complete corrective action during the current crackdown period will have the reduction applied immediately when administrative penalties are issued after the law takes effect.

To launch the effort, First Vice Minister Kim I-tak will chair a kickoff meeting Thursday afternoon with the 10 public institutions at the site office of the fifth section of the Pyeongtaek–Osong double-track construction project, near Osong Station.

"Illegal subcontracting must be eradicated, as it is a root cause not only of major industrial accidents and shoddy construction but also of wage theft," Kim said. "Public contracting agencies must lead by example. We will build a comprehensive system to stamp out illegal subcontracting — one where reporting, enforcement and voluntary correction all work together — by activating whistleblower rewards and actively applying penalty reductions to contractors that correct violations on their own."


smh@heraldcorp.com