POSCO E&C CEO resigns over repeated workplace injuries

POSCO E&C CEO Jeong Hee-min, left, lowers his head in apology over a series of recent construction site accidents at the company office in Songdo, Incheon, July 29. Jeong tendered his resignation Tuesday. Yonhap

The chief executive of POSCO E&C, one of Korea’s largest construction firms, tendered his resignation Tuesday, amid intensifying public outrage and official scrutiny over a spate of deadly industrial accidents at the company’s worksites.

The resignation comes as the presidential office had already placed the developer under heightened review, following deadly accidents that drew national attention. President Lee Jae Myung, speaking at a Cabinet meeting last month, condemned the company’s safety record in unusually blunt terms, calling the repeated fatalities “unacceptable” and suggesting they could constitute “murder by willful negligence” under Korean law.

Jeong Hee-min’s decision to resign followed the company’s latest industrial accident, in which a 31-year-old migrant worker from Myanmar was hospitalized in an unconscious state after suffering an apparent electric shock at a highway construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, around 1:30 p.m. on Monday.

“As the president, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility for the repeated accidents,” Jeong said in a statement. “I will take full responsibility and step down from my position ... I sincerely hope this will serve as a starting point for decisive change toward structural innovation, with a renewed understanding that the very foundation of our company’s existence lies in safety.”

Jeong also apologized to the victims and their families. “I express my deepest condolences to those who have tragically lost their lives, and I sincerely offer my heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured,” he said.

When found, the migrant worker showed symptoms of cardiac arrest and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. He is now breathing but remains unresponsive.

Investigators said the worker was found to have descended underground to inspect a malfunctioning water pump. Afterward, he suddenly collapsed. Another worker who was with him called emergency services.

While an electric shock is suspected as the cause, police said further investigation is needed to confirm why the worker collapsed.

Police said investigators from the National Forensic Service and the forensic science unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency launched on-site inspections early Tuesday.

This is the latest in a series of industrial accidents to occur under the supervision of POSCO E&C. This year alone, four fatal accidents have happened at its workplaces, prompting calls for safety inspections.

After a worker in his 60s was killed on July 28 by a drilling machine at a POSCO E&C construction site in Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province, CEO Jeong issued an apology and ordered safety inspections at all of the company's workplaces nationwide.

But the accident in Gwangmyeong occurred on the very first day the site resumed operations, casting renewed doubt on the company’s safety pledges.

Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon expressed “strong regret,” instructing officials to investigate the case.

“We will reexamine POSCO’s plan to improve workplace safety to determine whether it is a substantive measure to prevent the recurrence of serious industrial accidents and, if not, will call for more fundamental countermeasures,” the ministry said in a statement. “We will also carry out thorough, unannounced inspections at all 62 POSCO E&C construction sites nationwide and swiftly investigate any violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, holding those responsible fully accountable.”

Speaking at a press briefing, the presidential office spokesperson also said the government could consider stronger measures in response.

“Since he had already given multiple warnings and disciplinary actions regarding the types of accidents that keep recurring at the same company, the president could call for a different response after his vacation is over,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.

During the Cabinet meeting on July 29, Lee vowed to eradicate industrial accidents.

“The occurrence of the same accidents in the same sites is entirely predictable, and when such foreseeable risks are left unaddressed, it is ultimately tantamount to allowing deaths,” he said.

Lee then called for the introduction of a new measure that would impose a steep fine on employers found to be responsible for “repeated, habitual and recurring fatal accidents.”