All Members of the National Assembly from Gwangju Support the Enactment of the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] All members of the National Assembly from the Gwangju region have expressed support for the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

According to the Democratic Party of Korea Gwangju Metropolitan City Party on the 3rd, all eight National Assembly members from Gwangju agreed to prioritize legislation for the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and stated they would actively participate.

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act aims to improve the previous inability to properly hold responsible parties accountable for safety accidents, focusing on ensuring that corporate entities and top executives do not neglect their duty to prevent risks.

The National Assembly members from Gwangju stated, “Although South Korea has surpassed a per capita income of $30,000 and ranks 13th in industrial development worldwide, it must quickly escape the dishonor of having the highest worker industrial accident and death rates among OECD countries,” adding, “Although the Industrial Safety and Health Act was revised in December 2018 for the first time in 28 years following the death of non-regular worker Kim Yong-gyun, a young worker, there are still no provisions to properly punish companies responsible for fatal accidents, and serious accidents continue to occur, so this must be addressed.”

Song Gap-seok, chairman of the Gwangju City Party, said, “We mourn the death of our local young worker Kim Jae-soon, who lost his life in an industrial accident on May 22,” and added, “We will spare no legislative support to correct the behavior where capital and profit take precedence over human life.”