“Railway safety administrative disposition, up to 476 days for deliberation even after accident investigation is completed”

Rep. Jeong Il-young “We need to establish objective standards to increase the timeliness of administrative dispositions.”

(Daejeon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jun-ho = It was analyzed that it took up to 476 days from the investigation of the railway accident until the date of the committee meeting to take administrative action.

On the 8th, as a result of analyzing the 'Status of Railroad Safety Administrative Disposition and Deliberation Committee Operations for the Past 5 Years' received from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by Rep. Jeong Il-young of the Democratic Party of Korea (Incheon Yeonsu-eul), a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly, the period from the date of completion of the railroad accident investigation to the date of holding of the Administrative Disposition Deliberation Committee ranged from the shortest 11 days to the longest 476 days.

Even in accidents where a worker died, it was confirmed that administrative measures were reviewed only several months to more than a year after the investigation was completed.

The investigation into the accident at Guro Station on the Gyeongbu Line, in which two workers died in August 2024, was completed in October of the same year, but the Administrative Disposition Review Committee was not held until September 2025, nearly a year or 343 days later. The final administrative action was taken in February, 545 days after the accident.

The death of a worker at Geundeok Station on the Donghae Line, which occurred in February last year, took 476 days from completion of investigation to deliberation. The Cheongdo-Namseonghyeon accident on the Gyeongbu Line in August of the same year, in which two workers died, also took 313 days, and the deliberation on the KTX-Sancheon derailment on the Gyeongbu High-Speed ​​Line in 2024 was also held 363 days after the completion of the investigation.

On the other hand, the 2022 Suseo High-Speed ​​Line Tongbok Tunnel tram line power outage accident was reviewed 11 days after the investigation was completed.

Rep. Jeong emphasized, "The fact that some accidents are reviewed only after 11 days and others only after 476 days even though all accident investigations have been completed requires inspection in terms of the consistency and timeliness of administrative dispositions. In particular, as there are cases where even accidents in which workers lost their lives were reviewed only after hundreds of days had passed, we need to look into whether there are any shortcomings in the current system."