Park Soon-kwan CEO "Undergoing Trial and Investigation"
Park Soon-kwan, CEO of Arisel, who is being held responsible for the fire disaster at the Hwaseong Arisel factory, has expressed his intention to not attend the National Assembly’s audit.
According to political circles on the 22nd, CEO Park submitted a letter of absence to the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee on the same day. He stated that he would not attend due to the ongoing first trial preparation hearing and first trial, as well as an investigation being conducted by the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency.
In the letter of absence, CEO Park said, "Since the ongoing trial and investigation are directly related, there are inevitable limitations in providing answers," and added, "The responses given at the National Assembly could influence future investigations and trials." He also reportedly appealed to the committee regarding an Arisel employee, Mr. A, who was under police investigation for military supply corruption allegations and has been experiencing psychological distress after an extreme act.
CEO Park was selected as a witness for the Environment and Labor Committee’s audit on the 17th. He is being held responsible for the fire that occurred on June 24 at Arisel, a primary lithium battery company located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The fire resulted in the deaths of 23 workers and injuries to 8 others. Families of the industrial accident victims from Arisel and other Hwaseong fire victims held a protest in front of the National Assembly on the 8th, demanding that CEO Park be summoned as a witness for the audit.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Division 14 of Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Ko Kwon-hong) held the first trial for CEO Park, who is charged with violating the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the previous day. After confirming the preparation status of both the prosecution and defense during the first trial preparation hearing, the session ended after 16 minutes.
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