SEOSAN, South Korea– A court on Thursday acquitted the former head of a thermal power plant company of professional negligence charges in connection with a high-profile 2018 worker death case that caused public outrage and prompted legislation of a new industrial safety law.
The Seosan branch of the Daejeon District Court said it found Kim Byung-sook, former CEO of Korea Western Power Co., not guilty in the case surrounding Kim Yong-gyun, a subcontract worker who died in a conveyor belt accident at the company’s plant in Taean, about 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, in December 2018.
The death of the 24-year-old worker then sparked public outrage and calls for measures to better ensure contract workers’ safety and treatment at workplaces. It eventually led to the passage of a revised industrial safety bill later that year.
The court said it did not see the former executive as having his violated his professional duty of care. The court also ruled that the former CEO did not intentionally default on presenting safety measures at the plant.
The court, however, found 15 other co-defendants also indicted in the case guilty, sentencing them to punishments ranging from fines to prison terms.
Source: Yonhap News Agency