The second-instance ruling that sentenced former SK Chemical and Aekyung Industrial CEOs to prison terms for manufacturing and selling harmful humidifier disinfectants was overturned by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) on the 26th overturned the original ruling that sentenced former SK Chemical CEO Hong Ji-ho and former Aekyung Industrial CEO Ahn Yong-chan to four years in prison each on charges including professional negligence resulting in death, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.
The court stated, "The circumstances cited by the lower court alone cannot establish joint criminal liability for negligence," and added, "There are grounds for reversal regarding the parts of the indictment related to victims who suffered from combined use."
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-instance court acquitted all defendants, stating that it was difficult to prove that CMIT and MIT caused lung diseases. However, the second-instance court reversed the verdict and sentenced them to prison terms.
A Supreme Court official said, "It is difficult to establish joint criminal liability with companies manufacturing and selling humidifier disinfectants with different ingredients in this case, so there is a possibility of further examination on whether there is a causal relationship between the deaths or injuries of victims who used multiple products and this humidifier disinfectant alone," adding, "It is difficult to definitively conclude innocence."
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