‘Humidifier Disinfectant’ SK Chemical and Aekyung Former CEOs Sentenced to Prison... First Trial Overturned

Former executives and employees of SK Chemical and Aekyung Industrial, who were prosecuted for manufacturing and selling harmful humidifier disinfectants and acquitted in the first trial, were all found guilty in the appellate court. This overturned the first trial's judgment, which acquitted them on the grounds that it was not sufficiently proven that the humidifier disinfectant components were harmful to the human body.

On the 11th, at the courthouse intersection in Seocho-gu, Seoul, victims of the humidifier disinfectant and their bereaved families, along with representatives of civic groups, held a press conference after the appellate trial verdict related to the humidifier disinfectant. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judges Seo Seung-ryeol, Ahn Seung-hoon, Choi Moon-soo) on the 11th sentenced former SK Chemical CEO Hong Ji-ho (74) and former Aekyung Industrial CEO Ahn Yong-chan (65), who were indicted on charges including professional negligence resulting in death, to four years in prison each. Employees of the two companies who were tried together also received prison sentences or suspended prison sentences. However, the court stated that since this case involves many legally disputable issues, it would not detain the defendants who were sentenced to actual imprisonment in order to guarantee their right to defense.

The court ruled, “The defendants failed to conduct the required safety inspections before the product launch and also failed to fulfill the observation duties required after the product launch, thereby expanding the damage. In some defendants' cases, there was even professional negligence that led to false information being recorded on the containers of the humidifier products.”

It continued, “A large number of unspecified people suffered severe pain from lung diseases or asthma without knowing the cause, and many victims suffered irreversible and tragic damage, including death. Strict punishment according to their responsibility is inevitable for the defendants.”

Former CEO Hong and others were indicted in July 2019 on charges of manufacturing and selling the humidifier disinfectant 'Humidifier Mate,' which contained toxic chemicals such as chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT) and methylisothiazolinone (MIT), causing 98 people to suffer from lung diseases or asthma, and resulting in the deaths of 12 of them. The first trial court acquitted all defendants, stating that it was difficult to prove that CMIT and MIT caused lung diseases and other conditions.