By Yi Whan-woo
Rep. Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), said Tuesday that foreign companies and executives cannot avoid responsibility for the wrongdoing they have committed here just because they are foreign.
“The rule of law should be applied equally to all violators regardless of whether they are local or foreign,” Woo said during a party meeting. “We must keep in mind this principle when dealing with the toxic humidifier disinfectant case.”
The comments came one day after major parties agreed to open a parliamentary investigation into one of the country’s worst consumer product scandals. They also agreed to hold a hearing on the issue. The schedule for the probe will be completed by July 6.
“We should not let those who are responsible for the deadly accident find excuses and escape just because they work at global conglomerates,” Woo said.
Several enterprises, including British household goods manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser, are being investigated by the prosecution for making humidifier disinfectants that are blamed for the deaths of over 140 Korean consumers.
However, the prosecution has been criticized for “being lenient” with foreign executives, both retired and active, at Reckitt Benckiser’s Korean unit ― Oxy Reckitt Benckiser ― while detaining the firm’s Korean officials and scientists.
“It appears to me that the prosecutors are detaining only those who have Korean names while letting those with foreign names walk away,” Woo said. “The parliament will find out whether the prosecution’s probe of the case is problematic.”
The case came to light after four pregnant women died of unknown lung problems in 2011. A government-led investigation showed there is a connection between the consumers who died of lung problems and the chemicals used to clean household humidifiers.
The prosecution arrested Oxy Reckitt Benckiser’s former Korean CEO Shin Hyun-woo and its two lab researchers for allegedly approving sales of products using the dangerous chemical, polyhexamethylene guanidine (PHMG), without undergoing sufficient tests.
Citing its review of evidence collected so far, Seoul Central District Court rejected the prosecution’s request to issue an arrest warrant for John Lee, a Korean American who had succeeded Shin.
Lee now heads Google Korea after serving as CEO at Oxy Reckitt Benckiser from June 2005 to May 2010.
The firms’ other former CEO, Gaurav Jain, refused to comply with the prosecution’s summons for questioning. He served as CEO from May 2010 for two years.