Supreme Court confirms 1st prison term for CEO over worker death
The Supreme Court in Seoul is seen in this undated file photo. Korea Time photo by Choi Joo-yeon
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a one-year prison term for the CEO of Hankook Steel & Mill for violating the industrial disaster prevention law in connection with the death of a worker at its plant.
The CEO of the mid-sized steel company has thus become the nation's first corporate head to be punished with a prison term for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act enacted in 2022 to punish employers accused of failing to fulfill their duties to prevent fatal accidents at workplaces.
It also marked the top court's first deliberation on the act-related case.
The Hankook CEO, whose identity was withheld, was indicted for providing insufficient safety measures in connection with the fatal accident in March last year. The worker in his 60s died at the company's plant in the southeastern county of Haman after his legs were crushed below a 1.2-ton steel plate.
Under the law, owners or CEOs of companies with 50 or more employees are subject to at least one year in prison or up to 1 billion won ($776,000) in fines in the event of fatal on-duty disasters caused by lax workplace safety measures. (Yonhap)