The Federation of Construction Associations (FCA) held the 2026 New Year’s gathering for organizations related to the construction industry on Jan. 14.
The FCA shared its upcoming major tasks, such as smart technology innovation, eradicating serious industrial disasters, and expressing its resolve to overcome industry crises.
The event, held at the Construction Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was attended by some 700 people from the industry, political and economic circles.
Among those on hand at the event were FCA Chmn. Han Seung-gu, Vice Minister Kim Yi-tak of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Chmn. Maeng Seong-gyu of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Rep. Kwon Young-jin, Rep. Park Beom-gye, Rep. Park Deok-heum, Rep. Song Seok-joon, Rep. Kim Young-jin, Rep. Cho Seung-rae, Rep. Eom Tae-young, Rep. Park Hee-seung, Rep. Park Jeong-hyun and Rep. Sohn Myung-soo.
FCA Chmn. Han said, “Recent raw material price hikes, high interest rates and declining housing and real estate markets exacerbated the profitability of the construction industry, causing the most-ever business closures in what is now a serious crisis.”
“As the industry is required to improve its fundamentals, such as response to climate change, greenhouse gas emission reduction and digital transformation, including AI, safety is a matter of determining companies’ survival beyond regulatory issues.”
Chmn. Han presented the construction industry’s core tasks, such as eradicating serious industrial accidents, stabilizing the housing and real estate markets, smart technology-oriented industry innovation, improving the image of the construction sector, and securing future manpower.
He called for the government and the National Assembly to provide full policy support and expressed hope for a rebound in the construction industry for the development of the nation.
SME and Regional Construction Companies Desperate to Receive Policy Support
As SME and regional construction companies are at the crossroads of survival due to the long-term recession in the domestic real estate industry, chairmen of organizations related to the construction industry, such as FCA and the Korea Housing Builders Association (KHBA), joined forces to demand support from the government.
According to the Knowledge Information System for Construction Industry (KISCON), 523 general construction companies reported their business closure last year, a 1.35 percent rise over 516 in the previous year.
Figures released by the KHBA showed that the number of construction companies which submitted an application for restructuring stood at 55.
The figure included one workout company, 54 court receivership firms and one delisted company.
Among them were 22 mid-sized construction companies, spreading fears of a crisis to mid-sized construction companies, beyond SMEs.
KBHA Chmn. Kim Sung-eun, who took office as the 14th chairman of the association in January, presented core tasks on effective steps to restore housing demand and ramp up support for guaranteeing project financing in a meeting of reporters on Jan. 27.
He said he will continue to hold consultations with the government.
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