Development Plan and Comparison of Construction Quality Management Systems in Preparation for the Economic Integration in Northeast Asia(FTA)

The FTA between South Korea and China has been concluded in 2014. This means that there is high possibility of the economic integration in Northeast Asia. China`s rapid growth has led the global economy, and the Northeast Asia has been attracting attention as the main market. Although the South Korean government cannot help continuing the overseas market-oriented policies, South Korea`s construction orders in the Northeast Asia are insignificant, and their profitability is still low. It is time for South Korean construction industry to promote qualitative growth instead of quantitative growth. South Korean construction industry have to focus more on quality management to produce high-quality construction output. In order to support South Korean construction industry, Korean government needs to provide more advanced national quality management system. Therefore, this study compares national quality management systems in South Korea, Japan, and China, and suggests the direction of the South Korean national quality management system reform. In addition, another objective of this study is to confirm the importance of an ISO9001 based quality management system as a basis of the economic integration in Northeast Asia.