Hanwha Aerospace to suspend production lines after deadly explosion

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il meets the bereaved families of the victims of the deadly explosion at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon facility, gathered at a hospital in Daejeon, Wednesday. Yonhap

Hanwha Aerospace, a defense affiliate of Hanwha Group, said Thursday it will suspend operations at all of its production facilities and conduct special safety inspections following a deadly explosion at its Daejeon facility.

The company said it will halt operations at its nine business sites nationwide for two days starting Thursday, marking the first companywide production shutdown since its establishment in 2023.

Some essential production processes, however, will be exempt from the suspension.

The explosion at the facility, located about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, on Monday killed five people and injured two others. Police have launched a joint investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident.

The company said it has concluded that securing a safe working environment is a higher priority than avoiding temporary production disruptions caused by the suspension of operations.

During the shutdown, all business sites will conduct comprehensive inspections of potential fire and explosion hazards, major industrial accident risks, unsafe conditions and facilities, risk assessment procedures and past accident cases, the company elaborated.

The Daejeon plant is a key defense facility and is designated as a secret defense factory. It makes various weapons systems, including the Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and long-range surface-to-air missiles (L-SAM).

The affected production lines generated 1.32 trillion won ($870 million) in revenue last year, accounting for 4.94 percent of Hanwha Aerospace's total revenue of 26.7 trillion won, according to the company.