Choo Kyung-ho: "Hwaseong Fire, an Embarrassing Developing Country-Type Safety Accident... Measures to Prevent Recurrence Must Be Established"

Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, referred to the fire accident at the Hwaseong Arisel factory on the 30th as a "shameful underdeveloped country-type safety accident," and urged, "The government should thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and establish fundamental measures to prevent recurrence."

On the morning of the 30th, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is giving a greeting at the high-level party-government-national assembly consultation meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. 2024.6.30 [Joint Coverage] [Image Source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Choo attended a high-level party-government meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Samcheong-dong in the morning, stating, "The factory where the accident occurred was self-assessed as 'inadequate' in its own safety inspection conducted a month before the accident, yet no proper improvement measures were taken during that month, which is known to have led to the tragedy."

Choo particularly pointed out, "Many foreign workers were victims in this accident," and emphasized, "The government should expedite strengthening safety education and improving working conditions for foreign workers who have different languages and cultures." He added, "The government should provide thorough support for the victims' funeral procedures and carefully attend to any necessary support even after the funeral process is completed."

Choo, who had expressed his intention to resign on the 24th, taking responsibility for the results of the National Assembly organization, announced the day before that he would return to work after five days. This high-level party-government meeting was his first official schedule after returning to work.

Regarding the government's economic policy direction for the second half of the year, which the Ministry of Economy and Finance is scheduled to announce soon, Choo said, "The urgent economic task that the party and government must urgently examine is, first and foremost, the livelihood of the people, and secondly, the livelihood of the people," and urged, "To stabilize people's livelihoods, price stability is an urgent priority, so please devote all efforts to stabilizing living costs and grocery prices for ordinary citizens."

He continued, "As the recent recovery of the perceived economy is delayed, there is a need to strengthen active financial support and reliable recovery support program policies for small business owners who are experiencing particularly severe difficulties," and urged, "No matter how good the policies are, many small business owners and self-employed people who live busy day-to-day lives miss out on benefits because they are unaware, so please put more effort into policy promotion and guidance."