On June 16, the police launched a compulsory investigation into the death of subcontracted worker Kim Choonghyun, who died while working at the Taean Thermal Power Plant.
On the 12th, participants shouted slogans demanding "truth investigation," "punishment of those responsible," and "presidential intervention" at the press conference launching the Taean Thermal Power Plant late irregular worker Kim Choonghyun's death accident countermeasure committee held in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Starting at around 10:00 a.m. that day, a special investigation team from the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency's Criminal Task Force and the Ministry of Employment and Labor deployed 80 personnel to simultaneously execute search and seizure operations at the headquarters of Korea Western Power, the headquarters of KEPCO KPS, the KEPCO KPS Taean Office within the Taean Thermal Power Plant, and the office of Korea Power O&M, a secondary subcontractor.
The police and labor authorities are investigating the Taean Thermal Power Plant fatal accident for charges including occupational negligence resulting in death, violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
The police plan to focus on reviewing contracts that can prove the contractual relationships among Korea Western Power, KEPCO KPS, and Korea Power O&M, as well as Kim Choonghyun's employment contract, and documents that can confirm whether safety guidelines were in place at the work site.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor is concentrating on securing evidence to determine whether Korea Western Power and KEPCO KPS issued work instructions for the victim's task, and whether safety devices to prevent entrapment were installed, in order to establish any legal violations.
Previously, on June 2 at around 2:30 p.m., Kim died in an accident in which he was caught in a machine while cutting and processing power plant equipment parts at the KEPCO KPS Taean Thermal Power Plant Machinery Workshop inside the Taean Thermal Power Plant.
Kim was an employee of Korea Power O&M, a subcontractor of KEPCO KPS, which itself is the primary maintenance subcontractor for Korea Western Power's Taean Thermal Power Plant.
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