Economic Groups Appeal to Halt Enactment of "Serious Accident Punishment Act" Citing Overregulation Beyond Capacity

Joint Statement by 8 Economic Organizations Including Korea Federation of SMEs and Korea Employers Federation

From the left, Ban Won-ik, Executive Vice President of the Federation of Medium-Sized Enterprises, Woo Tae-hee, Executive Vice President of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kim Young-joo, President of the Korea International Trade Association, Kim Ki-moon, President of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, Sohn Kyung-shik, President of the Korea Employers Federation, Kim Young-yoon, President of the Korea Specialty Contractors Association, Kwon Tae-shin, Executive Vice President of the Federation of Korean Industries.
[Photo by Junggi Joonganghoe]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Economic organizations appealed to halt the enactment of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, calling it "excessive legislation that is very difficult for the business community to handle."

On the 22nd, eight economic organizations including the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz), Korea Employers Federation, Korea International Trade Association, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Federation of Korean Industries, Korea Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises, Korea Specialty Contractors Association, and Korea Construction Association announced their "Position on the Enactment of the Serious Accident Punishment Act" at the Kbiz headquarters in Yeouido.

The economic organizations stated, "While we agree with the law's intent to protect workers' safety and prevent industrial accidents, it is excessive to place all responsibility for industrial accident occurrences on business owners and to impose quadruple punishments including criminal penalties on representatives, corporate fines, administrative sanctions, and punitive damages."

They also emphasized, "With 1,222 mandatory provisions that employers must comply with under the Industrial Safety and Health Act, which was strengthened earlier this year, adding the Serious Accident Punishment Act would be too harsh," and stressed, "Current industrial safety policies focused on punishment should be shifted to guidance and prevention."

Kim Ki-moon, president of Kbiz, said, "The biggest victims of the Serious Accident Punishment Act will be the 6.63 million small and medium enterprises," adding, "If the law is enforced, due to the subcontracting structure and poor financial and manpower conditions, small business owners will inevitably be driven to become lawbreakers. Legislation that takes into account the realities of small and medium enterprises is necessary."