President Lee Jae Myung speaks at the 22nd Cabinet meeting and the 9th Emergency Economic Review Meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on the 20th. Cheong Wa Dae Press Photographers

On the 21st, President Lee Jae Myung ordered a rigorous fact-finding after it emerged that a large amount of rebar had been omitted in construction on the Seoul Samseong Station section of the metropolitan express railway (GTX)-A line.

Chief Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong said at a Chunchugwan briefing that day, “President Lee instructed the relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, to carry out a rigorous assessment of the actual situation and a thorough safety inspection regarding the rebar omission incident at the GTX-A Samseong Station section.”

As for the background to the President issuing the directive, Chief Spokesperson Kang explained, “Given the summer rainy season and the circumstances, the government has the responsibility and duty to examine on-site safety to prevent major safety accidents, and the President instructed the relevant ministries to review the causes of the incident.”