Gwangju Youth Crushed to Death Under Large Coil, Working with Injured Hand from a Year Ago...

Bereaved Family: "Taken to Night Emergency Room More Than Twice in 3 Years"
Company Official Responds "No Comment" to Questions About Physical Amputation and Accident

DK, where a young worker fatality occurred. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Culture Young Intern Reporter] It has been revealed that a young worker belonging to a Samsung Electronics subcontractor, who died after being crushed by a 1.8-ton steel coil, was assigned to work with an injured and inconvenient hand from a safety accident about a year ago.

According to DK, an electronics manufacturer in the Gwangju area, and the bereaved family, the worker in his 20s, Mr. A, who died the day before, injured one of his hands during work last summer. Although he was hospitalized for 6 weeks and received outpatient treatment for 8 weeks, he did not fully recover and experienced discomfort such as being unable to clench his fist with the injured hand even after rehabilitation treatment.

Mr. A died around 9:14 p.m. on the 7th after being crushed by a steel coil weighing about 1.8 tons at the DK factory located in Pyeong-dong Industrial Complex, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. Mr. A, a regular employee of the company, is known to have had the accident during the process of moving steel coils, which are raw materials for parts, onto the workbench using a hoist (a machine device for lifting heavy objects).

Mr. A’s older brother said, "In the three years my brother worked, he was taken to the emergency room at night more than twice due to injuries during work." He also pointed out the poor working environment at DK by citing safety accident cases involving other workers, such as a woman who lost both arms and a foreign worker who lost a leg. In KakaoTalk conversations exchanged with his brother, it was mentioned that it was frequent for coworkers to be hit on the face, chest, and thighs by fragments during work. Despite the brother emphasizing safety by saying things like 'stay far away' and 'close the door,' Mr. A replied, 'I’m close by' and 'there is no door.'

A DK representative explained about the accident, "We understand that it was processed as an industrial accident once. Minor wounds are sometimes treated and then ended." Regarding testimonies about large and small safety accidents such as amputations, the representative said, "We have nothing to say about that."

The bereaved family raised suspicions that Mr. A was working alone when the accident occurred, based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage inside the factory where no fellow workers were visible. In response, DK stated, "Since the Ministry of Labor is investigating, it is difficult to comment here, but the company only knows that the work was carried out normally."

The police and labor authorities are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident based on testimonies from a foreign coworker who said he was on the opposite side of the large equipment, which is a CCTV blind spot. The police are investigating whether there is a charge of professional negligence resulting in death or injury, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor is investigating violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act or the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

Meanwhile, DK is a Samsung Electronics subcontractor located in Gwangju that produces air home appliances, household appliance parts, automotive exterior parts, and develops and manufactures precision press molds. It attracted attention as the first official visit by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong after his promotion to chairman last month.