DP Allocates Record-High Industrial Accident Prevention Budget... "Intensive Support for Vulnerable Sectors"

Increased by 278.7 Billion Won Compared to Last Year
Accelerating Amendments to the Industrial Safety and Health Act

The Democratic Party of Korea explained that this year’s industrial safety and health budget has been allocated at a record-high level. The budget related to industrial accidents for this year will be focused on providing intensive support to small businesses and areas that have been safety blind spots.

On January 12, the Democratic Party’s Task Force for the Prevention of Industrial Accidents held a budget briefing session. Han Jeoungae, Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party, stated at the event, “The Democratic Party and the Lee Jaemyung administration have significantly increased the budget, reflecting our commitment that protecting workers’ lives in the workplace must be the foundation of sustainable growth.” She introduced, “This year’s industrial safety and health budget stands at 1.5758 trillion won, the largest ever.” She added, “This represents an increase of approximately 278.7 billion won compared to the previous year, and it is nearly three times higher than the amount in 2020. The focus of this year’s budget is to provide intensive support to vulnerable sectors that have been exposed to high accident risks but have remained outside the reach of safety management.”

Yonhap News Agency

Chair Han stated, “The Democratic Party will do its utmost to ensure that the Industrial Safety and Health Act, which includes measures such as rewards for reporting unsafe workplaces, the imposition of fines on businesses where fatal accidents occur, the right of workers to demand work stoppage and corrective actions, the authority of the Minister of Employment and Labor to issue emergency work stoppage orders, and the establishment of grounds for application for deregistration in the event of a major accident, can be promptly revised during the January extraordinary session of the National Assembly so that the allocated budget can be executed more effectively.”

On the same day, the government explained the budget for industrial accident prevention projects, outlining plans to strengthen the prevention of safety blind spots, expand support for small businesses, promote a culture of safety awareness, and increase the number of industrial safety inspectors, thereby expanding the labor safety infrastructure.