GS Engineering and Construction has been slapped with an eight-month suspension by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for the collapse of an underground parking lot in an apartment complex in Geomdan, Incheon in April.
The ministry will ask the Seoul Metropolitan Government to slap another two-month suspension on GS E&C for the builder's failure to conduct proper safety checks.
GS E&C is the main contractor for the apartment complex, where a portion of the roof of the parking lot collapsed. It has now decided to rebuild the whole complex from scratch, which sent its shares into freefall.
The ministry is also seeking suspension or license cancellation for the architects, structural engineering firm and subcontractors.
A probe revealed that no reinforcement bars were intentionally left out to cut corners, as previously suspected, but the strength of the concrete used in some parts of the structure was substandard.
After the collapse, the ministry ordered an investigation of 83 other construction sites across Korea that GS E&C is involved in but found no significant shortcomings there. The builder apologized for the lapse.
Korea used to be synonymous with shoddy construction, and several major disasters occurred in the boom years as a result of builders cutting corners. Since then it has built up a reputation in the Middle East for reliable construction of major projects, but in recent days there have been several more deadly building collapses here.
