Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
ANALYSIS Why do workplace fatalities in Korea keep rising despite gov't crackdown?
Members of a joint investigation team search the collapsed Ulsan coal-fired power plant site in Ulsan, Nov. 18. In this case that killed seven workers, the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to investigate possible violations of all relevant labor laws, including the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Labor Standards Act, and to impose strict administrative and judicial measures for any breaches. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Construction, tiny firms and foreign workers hardest hit amid growing calls for preventive measures
Korea recorded a rise in industrial accident fatalities in the third quarter of 2025, underscoring the country’s persistent workplace safety crisis despite a high‑profile government crackdown. The latest official data showed fatal accidents increasing both in number and rate, with large industrial sites and construction remaining the deadliest workplaces.
Experts and industry officials believe the increase reflects chronic problems at small and subcontracted worksites and argue that real progress will require not just tougher penalties but sustained investment in safer equipment, more inspectors and practical, on-site support for employers and workers.
According to third‑quarter industrial accident statistics released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, 457 workers were killed in 440 fatal accidents, up 3.2 percent from 443 deaths in 411 accidents a year earlier.
Construction remained the most dangerous industry. It recorded 210 deaths in 200 accidents, a 3.4 percent increase in fatalities from 203 a year earlier, even as the number of fatal cases stayed the same at 200. Manufacturing saw 119 deaths from 115 accidents, with fatalities dropping 11.2 percent from 134 but accident cases rising from 108. The category of other industries jumped to 128 deaths in 125 accidents, up 20.8 percent in deaths and 21.4 percent in cases from a year earlier.
Company size made a stark difference. Workplaces with fewer than 50 employees or construction sites worth less than 5 billion won ($3.4 million) accounted for 275 deaths, up 10.4 percent from 249, while larger firms and projects saw fatalities fall 6.2 percent to 182. Ultra‑small workplaces with fewer than five employees or projects under 500 million won were particularly deadly, with deaths surging 24.5 percent to 137 from 110, driven by a sharp increase in small construction and service‑sector sites.
Within other industries, fatalities spiked in sectors with traditionally weaker safety management. Wholesale and retail reported 20 deaths, up 11 from a year earlier, while agriculture, forestry and fisheries saw 19 deaths, up 10.
The data also highlighted how workers die. Falls were the leading cause of death, killing 199 workers and accounting for 43.5 percent of all fatalities, up by 36 cases from the previous year’s third quarter. Struck‑by accidents killed 45 workers, while crush and overturn accidents claimed 30 lives. Deaths from being hit by objects fell to 56, down six from a year earlier.
By original cause materials, building structures and surfaces were linked to 190 deaths, an increase of 24.2 percent. Transport and lifting equipment were tied to 85 deaths, and manufacturing machinery to 57, underscoring the risks posed by heavy equipment and aging infrastructure.
Members of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions perform a die-in to demand workplace safety in front of Bosingak Belfry in central Seoul's Jongno District, April 24, 2024. Newsis
Migrant workers remain disproportionately affected. Of the 457 workers killed, 60 were foreign nationals, making up 13.1 percent of all fatalities. Foreign workers accounted for 27 of the 210 deaths in construction, 18 of the 119 deaths in manufacturing and 15 of the 128 deaths in other industries, reflecting their concentration in the most hazardous and precarious jobs.
Notably, for the first time since this fatality series began in 2022, deaths have turned upward even as sanctions have grown heavier. Accident fatalities, which had dropped from 510 in the first three quarters of 2022 to 459 in 2023 and 443 in 2024, climbed back to 457 between January and September this year.
Officials frame the uptick as a short‑term fluctuation rather than a verdict on policy. Ryu Hyun‑cheol, head of industrial safety at the labor ministry, urged the public not to "cheer or despair" over a single quarter’s data and to focus instead on longer‑term trends.
Korea has consistently posted one of the highest industrial fatality rates among OECD members, particularly in construction. International Labour Organization data showed Korea has about 3.9 fatal occupational accidents per 100,000 workers, well above the OECD average of about 2.6 per 100,000.
Experts point to a mix of structural and cultural factors behind the numbers. Chronic reliance on multilayered subcontracting in construction and manufacturing pushes the most dangerous tasks onto smaller firms and foreign or temporary workers, who often lack bargaining power and adequate safety training. Cost‑cutting pressures, long working hours and a "hurry‑up" site culture also frequently lead managers to treat safety rules as negotiable, while enforcement remains uneven, with limited inspectors struggling to monitor too many small workplaces.
According to professor Kim Sung-hee of Korea University's labor study institute, the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was introduced precisely because such tragedies keep recurring, but without real investment in safety facilities and staffing, he said “tougher penalties alone cannot drive the practical changes needed on the ground, and the law still falls short of turning formal compliance into genuine, preventive efforts to reduce industrial accidents.”
The latest figures also amount to an early, sobering report card on President Lee Jae Myung’s declared "war on industrial accidents."
President Lee Jae Myung listens to laborers’ remarks during a field labor-management meeting aimed at eradicating industrial accidents at the SPC factory in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, July 25. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok
Lee has denounced the repeated workplace deaths as "quasi‑intentional murder," while Labor Minister Kim Young‑hoon pledged to stake his post on reducing fatalities. The ruling party is pushing a bill that would allow fines of up to 5 percent of operating profit for companies with recurring accidents. Yet the new data showed that tougher punishment alone has not reduced deaths, casting doubt on a punishment‑first strategy.
Business groups say the current framework leans too heavily on punishment after accidents instead of helping firms with prevention. In a Korea Employers Federation survey, 73 percent of 222 companies aware of the government’s safety plan said it does not help avert serious accidents, and 57 percent cited an excessive focus on sanctions over practical guidance or support. Respondents most often called for shifting inspections from punishment to coaching and assistance, while expanding workers’ own safety and health responsibilities.
Corporate safety officers and legal scholars warn that simply raising fines and jail terms risks producing "paper compliance" rather than real investment in safer equipment, training and work processes. Labor law professor Park Gwi‑chun of Ewha Womans University argued that “punishment‑first” cannot be the centerpiece of policy, saying "durable change requires slowly improving safety awareness and offering concrete support to the smallest firms."