Chung Mong-gyu, the chairman of HDC Hyundai Development Company, apologized for Wednesday's building collapse in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

At a press conference at Gwangju city hall on Thursday, Chung said he sincerely apologizes and that he feels heavy responsibility for what happened. HDC is a builder at the site under redevelopment.

The chairman pledged to do everything possible to help the victims and families and to adopt measures to prevent such disasters from recurring.

HDC President and CEO Kwon Soon-ho also said at the press conference that there was no supervisor present at the time of the collapse, but the contract did not require that HDC provide one. 

A five-story building collapsed and fell onto a bus that was had come to a stop at a station near the construction site, killing at least nine people and injuring eight others.