The Ministry of Employment and Labor is accelerating investigations into long-stalled cases dating to 2022, the first year the Serious Accidents Punishment Act took effect. Labor groups have criticized the delays, saying they push bereaved families into financial distress and pressure to settle, while giving companies grounds for reduced sentences.
Unresolved serious-accident cases from 2022 fell from 36 as of June to the high 20s recently, according to the ministry and the National Assembly on the 23rd. The ministry has compiled a list of those cases at headquarters level for intensive management. It plans to speed up processing further through regular consultations with prosecutors.
The Daejeon Regional Employment and Labor Office, which had the largest number of unresolved 2022 cases, launched a dedicated team for long-pending cases on Aug. 3. The team consists of four labor inspectors with at least two years of investigative experience. The office also adjusted assignments of routine cases so the team could focus on the backlog. As a result, one of the eight 2022 cases handled by the Daejeon office was closed last month, and another was referred to prosecutors on the 22nd. The office plans to wrap up the remaining cases by year-end.
The ministry's investigative backlog is unlikely to clear quickly. According to data submitted to the office of Rep. Lee Hak-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, the cumulative clearance rate for serious-accident cases at the seven regional offices roughly doubled to 44.9% at the end of June from 22.7% at the end of 2022, the law's first year. Analysts say case-by-case capacity has improved as investigators have accumulated expertise.
The problem is how fast new cases are piling up. Cases under investigation or preliminary inquiry rose nearly sixfold to 1,012 at the end of June from 177 at the end of 2022. The surge followed the law's full extension in January to workplaces with five to fewer than 50 employees. Staffing for dedicated serious-accident investigations stands at just 57.3% of the authorized level. Another factor behind the drawn-out probes is the difficulty of identifying the business manager with actual control and authority within complex prime contractor–subcontractor structures, and of proving the charges.
"The clearance rate doubling in a little over four years can be seen as the Serious Accidents Punishment Act taking hold," Lee said. "But with cases accumulating far faster since the law was extended, investigative staff must be filled quickly so that prompt investigations secure the law's preventive effect."
Delays translate into suffering for victims' families. When investigations stretch on for years, trials are prolonged accordingly. Families whose livelihoods have been cut off are pushed toward settlement pressure from companies, and courts readily treat such settlements as grounds for leniency. On the 20th, the Supreme Court finalized a four-year prison term for Park Soon-kwan, chief executive of Aricell, and a seven-year term for his son Park Jung-eon, head of the company's general headquarters, over the fire at the battery maker that killed 23 people. The ruling upheld an appellate decision that sharply cut the sentences from the first trial, which had imposed 15 years on each, citing an acquittal on charges of failing to install emergency exits and settlements with some bereaved families. Labor groups have criticized the ruling as running counter to the purpose of the serious accidents law.
"It is positive that the ministry is picking up the pace on unresolved cases, even at this late stage," said Rep. Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party. "Strict punishment through thorough investigation must follow, so that the harm seen in the Aricell disaster — where a business owner won a reduced sentence by using settlements with bereaved families amid delayed investigations — is not repeated." Ha Eun-sung, a certified labor attorney, said at a news conference held the previous day by the Serious Accidents Experts Network in front of the Supreme Court: "Victims of serious accidents and their families are easily left in economically and socially vulnerable positions. A pattern keeps repeating in which they have no choice but to accept a settlement amid the grief of losing a family member and the difficulty of making a living."
A ministry official said: "Headquarters and field offices are jointly managing cases that have been delayed mainly because of complex legal issues. We will work to close cases that occurred in 2022 as soon as possible, by next year."
