Cheongju: The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's six-year prison sentence for a construction company official indicted for poor construction oversight for a river embankment that led to a deadly underpass flooding in the central city of Cheongju in 2023.
According to Yonhap News Agency, an underground roadway in Osong in western Cheongju, located 111 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was flooded amid heavy rains in mid-July when a nearby river overflowed after an embankment was brought down by rising water levels. The flooding left 14 people dead and 10 others injured.
The 56-year-old official, whose identity was withheld, was accused of poorly managing the embankment construction and indicted on charges of occupational negligence resulting in death. The embankment constructed under the official's responsibility was found to be 1.14 meters lower than the legal standard.
A district court sentenced the official to 7 1/2 years in prison but an appellate court reduced his prison term to six years. The Supreme Court said there was no error or misunderstanding of the legal principles in the appellate court's verdict on the defendant.