"Prevent a Second Icheon Disaster"... Lee Jae-myung Says "Let's Share Industrial Site Supervision Authority"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, argued that the government should grant industrial site inspection authority to local governments to prevent a second "Icheon disaster" (logistics center fire accident).

He also emphasized that the current labor inspectors under the Ministry of Employment and Labor should be renamed "labor police" and that their personnel should be increased more than threefold from the current 3,000 to over 10,000.

On the 1st, through Facebook, Governor Lee stated, "As revealed by the Icheon logistics center fire accident, the culture that values money over human lives must be changed," adding, "Strict criminal liability should be imposed on the actual beneficiaries for casualties caused by non-compliance with safety regulations, and punitive damages should be excessively applied for intentional neglect of risks."

He also said, "The name of the labor inspectors responsible for industrial safety at workplaces under the Ministry of Employment and Labor should be changed to labor police," adding, "Labor police should focus less on labor supervision and more on preventing violations of labor conditions and protecting safety and labor rights."

Furthermore, he stressed, "Despite opposition from opposition parties and conservative camps against increasing public officials, the number of labor police, currently only about 3,000, must be immediately increased to over 10,000 not only to expand public jobs but also to protect workers' rights and safety."

In particular, he expressed regret, saying, "The labor police authority should not be monopolized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor but shared and operated together with local governments," adding, "Gyeonggi Province, which oversees a quarter of South Korea's population, helplessly watches its residents perish tragically from fire, falls, suffocation, and burial in predictable workplace hazards because it lacks enforcement authority."

Governor Lee also pledged, "To prevent further losses, I will now try to strengthen the barn," promising, "We will start new efforts to reduce the world's highest industrial accident death rate to the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and strengthen policy discussions and solidarity for institutional improvements together with labor organizations and labor experts."

He emphasized, "Without waiting passively for the expansion of labor police and securing labor police authority for local governments, we will first select dangerous workplaces and dispatch labor safety guardians as part of job projects," adding, "We will specify these conditions in building permits within the province to enable the practical activities of safety guardians."

Finally, Governor Lee called for public interest, saying, "Our country has now moved beyond the era where lives must be sacrificed to make money," and "Changing a world where destroying life generates money into one where human rights and safety are respected is only possible if the people whose lives are threatened, not the vested interests who profit from life-threatening situations, take the lead."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.