Comprehensive Report on September Hwaseong Primary Battery Fire to Be Released

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is presiding over the "Joint Meeting of Advisory Committee and Task Force for the Preparation of the Comprehensive Report on the Hwaseong Factory Fire" at the provincial office on the 25th.

Gyeonggi Province will produce a comprehensive report detailing the cause of the ‘Hwaseong Factory Fire’ accident, the response process, and measures to prevent recurrence.

On the 25th, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon attended the ‘Hwaseong Factory Fire Comprehensive Report Production Advisory Committee and Task Force Joint Meeting’ held at the provincial office and said, "Although the staff all worked hard and did their best, I think there were many overlooked and insufficient aspects regarding funerals, migrant workers, and bereaved families." He added, "We want to leave a white paper documenting the entire process from the cause of the accident to the recovery and measures for the bereaved families as it is, so that when similar social disasters occur, whether by the central or local government, they can refer to the white paper we created."

He continued, "Let’s not sugarcoat anything and let the shortcomings be revealed as they are," and urged, "Let’s create a white paper that is not just a report with information gathered formally and shelved somewhere, but one that ordinary people can also read."

Governor Kim Dong-yeon had previously promised to produce the white paper at a press conference on July 3. Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province formed an advisory committee for the production of the comprehensive report and held its first meeting on this day. The advisory committee includes seven experts from various fields such as industrial safety, chemical substances, and migrant workers, including Baek Do-myeong, an honorary professor at Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health and a leading authority in domestic industrial health. At this meeting, they discussed the table of contents, main contents, and writing direction of the comprehensive report.

The comprehensive report will include ▲ a clear investigation of the cause of the fire ▲ evaluation of the accident response process and derivation of improvement measures ▲ concrete measures to prevent recurrence of similar accidents ▲ Gyeonggi Province’s industrial safety and migrant worker policies.

The comprehensive report is planned to be completed by early September through ongoing discussions and writing processes by the advisory committee.

Meanwhile, since the fire occurred on June 24 at a primary battery manufacturing company located in Seosin-myeon, Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province has been conducting an emergency fire safety investigation (June 25 to July 9) and swiftly focusing on accident recovery, prevention of recurrence, and support for victims by providing emergency living expenses and other assistance.