Two Suspended Sentences for Site Manager and Another in Gwangju Hwajeong Gold Class Fall Death Case

Construction Company Bogwang Construction Absent... Sentencing Postponed to the 9th of Next Month

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Two individuals, including the site manager of a construction company, who were prosecuted in connection with the death of a worker who fell at the Hwajeong Gold Class new construction site in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, were sentenced to suspended prison terms.

On the 12th, Judge Park Chan-woo of the Criminal Division 6 at Gwangju District Court sentenced B (51), the site manager of joint contractor A Construction, and D (52), director of subcontractor C Construction, who were indicted on charges including involuntary manslaughter due to negligence, to six months in prison with a one-year suspension each.

A fine of 6 million KRW was imposed on both A Construction and C Construction.

Judge Park stated, "The defendants had supervisory duties due to their positions and have admitted to the criminal facts," adding, "Consideration was given to the fact that they reached a settlement with the victim's side and corrected all safety violations."

They were prosecuted for causing the death of a worker by failing to take appropriate safety protection measures at an apartment construction site being built by the local construction company Bogwang General Construction on May 25 of last year.

At the time, the worker fell from a 1.5-meter-high work platform while plastering a wall on the stairs between the 5th and 6th floors of Building 103.

Other workers nearby and the site safety manager did not recognize that an accident had occurred, leaving the worker unattended at the site for over 12 hours.

The worker was found dead by a fellow worker around 6:30 a.m. the next day, which was also the worker’s 58th birthday.

The accused all admitted to their charges and pleaded for leniency.

Among them, C Construction claimed, "It appears that the victim was not wearing a safety helmet properly at the time of the accident," and added, "I think if the safety helmet had been worn properly, this tragic outcome might have been avoided."

During the last sentencing hearing, the prosecution requested the court to sentence A and B to six months in prison each, while the prosecution's request regarding the corporation has not been confirmed.

Bogwang General Construction, the main contractor, did not attend, and the verdict will be delivered on the 9th of next month.