Migrant Worker Dies from Industrial Accident, Employer Denies Responsibility... Employer Says "Not True"

The conflict between the company and the deceased’s side over the death of a migrant worker at the construction site of the Hapcheonho Interchange (IC) on the Hamyang-Ulsan Expressway in Daebyeong-myeon, Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam, which occurred on the 7th of last month, is intense.

A man in his 20s from Myanmar, Mr. A, was a worker belonging to C Industry, which subcontracted the construction from B Construction. He was working as a flagman at the accident site when he was hit and killed by a 25.5-ton truck.

Mr. A’s body is currently kept at a funeral home in Hapcheon without any funeral procedures.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is investigating the industrial accident and reviewing the applicability of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act regarding the incident.

The Gyeongnam Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is urging the management to apologize for the death accident of migrant workers.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

On the 1st, the Gyeongnam Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and Mr. A’s family lawyers held a press conference in front of the main gate of the Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office, claiming that the company refuses to acknowledge the industrial accident and is avoiding compensation.

The family’s lawyer said, “The company is trying to downplay and conceal the case as a general traffic accident rather than an industrial accident to avoid company responsibility.”

He added, “The company excluded the lawyer authorized by the victim’s mother for civil and criminal matters and attempted direct contact with the victim’s mother through the labor attach? of the Myanmar Embassy via video call. They also tried to cremate the victim’s body without notifying the family’s lawyer or the Gyeongnam Migrant Center.”

The lawyer emphasized, “While pretending to continue negotiations, the company does not relent in their claim that it is not an industrial accident. They are trying to exclude the lawyer representative in negotiations with the family, who are not well informed about appropriate settlement amounts or industrial accident insurance under Korean law.”

A representative of C Industry said, “On the day of the accident, the site was searched, and site personnel and the truck driver were investigated regarding the industrial accident and serious accident. The accident was already reported, and investigations were conducted, so how could we determine whether it is an industrial accident?”

He added, “Separate from civil or criminal settlements, we tried to conduct the funeral as the family wished. We did not discuss or arbitrarily decide the funeral procedures or schedule first.”

He explained, “The embassy requested a meeting to discuss the deceased’s funeral, so we visited the embassy and had a video call with an interpreter. On that day, the family said they wanted to cremate quickly on September 2, so we prepared accordingly.”

“Later, we heard from the family’s lawyer that the funeral could not proceed without an agreement. We thought confirmation was necessary, so on the 30th of last month, we inquired at the embassy and received a response that the family wanted to postpone the funeral, so we stopped preparations,” he added.