Ministry of Employment and Police Hold Joint Briefing on Investigation Results
Arisel CEO and 3 Others Arrest Warrants Requested
Evacuation Routes Inadequate and No Safety Training Provided
An investigation has concluded that the fire at the Arisel factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province last June was a 'man-made disaster.' The company, which committed illegal acts such as manipulating quality inspections, violated the Dispatch Workers Act by forcibly meeting delivery deadlines and deploying several unskilled workers, and the fire was caused by defective products due to poor production processes.
Gang Un-gyeong, Director of the Gyeonggi Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, is announcing the investigation results of the Arisel factory fire accident, which caused 23 deaths, at the Hwaseong Western Police Station in Namyang-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 23rd. 2024.8.23xanadu@yna.co.kr [Image source=Yonhap News]
Arrest Warrants Requested for Four on Charges of Violating Serious Accident Punishment Act and Others
The Gyeonggi Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Southern Gyeonggi Police Agency’s Arisel Fire Investigation Headquarters held a joint briefing at Hwaseong Western Police Station on the morning of the 23rd to announce the investigation results related to the fire at the primary battery manufacturer Arisel.
The Gyeonggi Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor applied for arrest warrants for three individuals: Park Soon-kwan, CEO of Arisel; his son Park Jung-eon, Arisel’s General Manager; and the CEO of Hanshin Dia, a manpower supply company. They were charged with violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and the Act on the Protection of Dispatched Workers. The police additionally included Arisel’s safety and health management officer, applying for a total of four pre-arrest warrants.
Kang Woon-kyung, head of the Gyeonggi Employment and Labor Branch, stated, "Considering the gravity of the case and evidence destruction during the investigation, we deemed it necessary to conduct arrest investigations on those responsible for the fire accident." He further explained, "The charges relate to violations of the management’s duty to ensure safety and health and violations of safety measures that caused multiple casualties in a major industrial accident."
The Gyeonggi Branch specifically cited ▲ violations of the management’s duty to ensure safety and health ▲ violations of safety measures related to fire evacuation that caused multiple casualties and concealment of the industrial accident ▲ dispatching workers to direct manufacturing production processes without permission for dispatch business and receiving and providing workers for such tasks in violation of the Dispatch Workers Act.
Fire Caused by Illegal Deliveries and Overstrained Production
The fire occurred on June 24 around 10:30 a.m. on the second floor of Building 3 at the Arisel factory in Hwaseong, when a lithium battery exploded. The accident resulted in 23 deaths, 3 serious injuries, and 6 minor injuries, totaling 9 injured. The Ministry of Employment and Labor focused its investigation on Arisel’s violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, while the police formed an investigation headquarters to probe the cause of the fire and safety management.
According to the investigation, since Arisel began supplying primary batteries to the military in 2021, it illegally passed inspections by the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality by producing batteries for quality inspection and swapping samples. This method continued until this year, but when recent delivery quality inspections failed to meet defense standards and delivery deadlines were delayed, the company forced production processes. They also violated the Dispatch Workers Act by newly deploying 53 unskilled workers through Hanshin Dia.
Police announced the investigation results of the Arisel factory fire accident, which caused 23 deaths, at Hwaseong Western Police Station in Namyang-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 23rd, revealing images of the accident scene. 2024.8.23Photo by xanadu@yna.co.kr [Image source=Yonhap News]
During this process, the defect rate increased and multiple defect types appeared, but the company continued production using abnormal methods. Two days before the fire, on June 22, a heat-generating battery that had completed electrolyte injection exploded and caught fire, but the production line continued to operate. Additionally, batteries injected with electrolyte at the same time as the exploded battery were moved and stored at the fire site without any special measures, leading to the fire.
The police, reviewing the National Forensic Service’s analysis, concluded that unskilled workers failed to properly cut the mesh (a thin nickel material mesh used in lithium batteries) during manual work, creating sharp protrusions on the cut surface. These protrusions likely interacted with foreign metal substances introduced from outside, contributing to the explosion.
After the fire broke out, the lack of proper evacuation routes worsened casualties. To reach the emergency exit on the second floor of Building 3, workers had to pass through three doors, but some doors were installed to open in the opposite direction of evacuation. There was no emergency response or evacuation training conducted when hiring workers or changing work tasks.
As a result, workers missed the golden time of '37 seconds' to evacuate immediately after the battery explosion because they were unaware of the safety guidelines. All 23 victims died about 20 meters before the exit door.
Ministry of Employment and Labor to Complete Remaining Investigation and Transfer to Prosecution
The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office filed arrest warrants for the four individuals including CEO Park on the same day. After reviewing the requested warrants, the prosecution judged that the criminal charges and grounds for detention were valid.
The Gyeonggi Branch plans to promptly complete the remaining investigation in close cooperation with the prosecution and police based on the investigation results and the substantive review of the arrest warrants, and then transfer the case to the prosecution. Head Kang said, "We will mobilize all capabilities in investigation, supervision, and support to prevent recurrence of disasters like this accident."
Meanwhile, during the investigation of Arisel’s violation of the Dispatch Workers Act, the Ministry of Employment and Labor uncovered labor law violations such as wage arrears involving 321 workers and rectified them. They also conducted a special industrial safety labor inspection targeting other factory buildings, taking judicial actions on 65 violations. On the 13th, they announced measures including strengthening safety education for foreign workers and revising risk assessments.
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