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By Kim Hyun-bin
Oh Young-sik, CEO of Korail, resigned Tuesday taking responsibility for a recent bullet train derailment, which injured more than a dozen passengers in the country's northeast.
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| Oh Young-sik |
He urged the people to keep their trust in Korail employees.
"I hope the accident will be a good chance to fix the fundamental problems of the railroad system," Oh said, citing excessive restructuring of the organization including a large cut in staff.
Early Saturday, a Seoul-bound KTX train was derailed in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, injuring 15 passengers.
Soon after the accident, Oh faced strong backlash as he claimed the "freezing weather" was a possible cause for the derailment during a press briefing. But the next day he changed his stance and said there was a problem with the rail switch system.
Many said this showed Oh's lack of expertise in railway operation, a point over which the three-term lawmaker has been criticized since his inauguration.
There have been 10 accidents on tracks managed by Korail in three weeks, including a KTX collision with an excavator in mid-November and the KTX derailment Saturday.
Even President Moon Jae-in denounced Korail's mismanagement on Monday, saying it was a shameful accident while the government was trying to export its transport system and bid for construction contracts.
