my timesThe Korea Times
  1. Business
  2. Companies

President Lee calls for tougher punishment against POSCO E&C over repeated fatal industrial accidents

Listen
By Yonhap
  • Published KST
President Lee Jae Myung speaks during the sixth meeting with his senior secretaries since his taking office at the presidential office in Seoul, July 31. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during the sixth meeting with his senior secretaries since his taking office at the presidential office in Seoul, July 31. Yonhap

President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday instructed his aides to come up with measures to impose a tougher punishment on POSCO E&C over repeated fatal industrial accidents at workplaces of the construction firm.

Lee also ordered a full investigation into the industrial accidents and to report all legally possible measures, including revoking the company's construction license and excluding the company from public bidding, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters.

So far this year, four workers have died at workplaces managed by POSCO E&C and another worker was killed at a POSCO steel mill in Gwangyang, about 290 kilometers south of Seoul. POSCO E&C is a subsidiary of POSCO, the nation's top steelmaker.

In the latest industrial accident involving POSCO E&C, a Myanmar worker in his 30s who was critically injured in a suspected electrocution accident at an expressway construction site in Gwangmyeong, 20 km south of the capital, on Monday. He has yet to regain consciousness.

During a Cabinet meeting last Tuesday, Lee specifically named POSCO E&C, saying fatal workplace incidents could be seen as "murder by willful negligence."

POSCO has launched a company-wide special safety task force aimed at strengthening safety management across all operations after the meeting.