'Incheon Port Worker Fall Death' Choi Jun-wook, President of Incheon Port Authority, Indicted

Incheon Port Authority Headquarters

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Choi Jun-wook, president of Incheon Port Authority (IPA), has been brought to trial on charges of violating the Industrial Safety and Health Act in connection with a worker's death accident that occurred two years ago at the Incheon Port lock gate.

According to the legal community on the 11th, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office recently indicted President Choi and the CEO of private company A, which was responsible for the lock gate repair work, on charges of violating the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

IPA, company A, and an engineering firm were also jointly indicted under the joint penalty provisions.

President Choi is accused of failing to fulfill safety management responsibilities during repair work at the Incheon Port lock gate in Jung-gu, Incheon, on June 3, 2020, which led to the fatal accident.

At around 8:18 a.m. that day, Mr. A (46 years old at the time of death), who was working on repair work on top of the Incheon Port lock gate, fell about 20 meters and was transported to a nearby hospital by the 119 emergency medical team but died while receiving treatment. IPA was the client for the repair work, and a private company was in charge of the construction.

The prosecution judged that IPA, as the client, was effectively the primary contractor and applied charges of violating the Industrial Safety and Health Act against President Choi and others.