Jeong Heemin, CEO of POSCO E&C, Offers to Resign, Citing Responsibility for Repeated Accidents

Jeong Heemin Announces Resignation Just One Day After Worker Falls Unconscious at Expressway Site

Jeong Heemin, CEO of POSCO E&C, has expressed his intention to resign, taking responsibility for the repeated serious industrial accidents.

In a recent statement regarding the recurrence of fatal accidents, CEO Jeong said on the 5th, "As the CEO responsible for POSCO E&C, I feel a heavy sense of responsibility for the repeated accidents," and added, "I will take full responsibility and step down from my position."

Yonhap News

CEO Jeong emphasized, "Although I promised a complete suspension of work and thorough safety inspections on July 29, I deeply bow my head and sincerely apologize to the public for yet another fatal accident at the Gwangmyeong-Seoul Expressway construction site," and continued, "POSCO E&C regards this accident not simply as a failure of safety management, but as a grave warning demanding deep reflection on the overall management of the company and a fundamental renewal."

He went on to say, "I sincerely hope that this will be a starting point for decisive change, reaffirming that the company's core value lies in safety," and added, "Going forward, I hope to restore public trust and achieve sustainable growth by establishing a field-oriented, autonomous safety culture involving all employees and partner companies, and by making a groundbreaking shift to a safety system that places safety as the top management priority."

Finally, he said, "Once again, I express my deepest condolences to those who have tragically lost their lives, and I sincerely offer my sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured."

Previously, on the afternoon of the previous day, at the extension construction site of the Gwangmyeong-Seoul Expressway in Okgil-dong, Gwangmyeong, where POSCO E&C is the contractor, a male worker in his 30s of Myanmar nationality suffered an accident presumed to be caused by electric shock and fell into a coma.

As another accident occurred just six days after CEO Jeong issued a public apology and declared an indefinite suspension of all construction sites following a series of fatal industrial accidents, safety management at the sites has once again come under scrutiny.