The United Future Party Examines the 'Serious Accidents Punishment Act'... Skeptical About Criminal Penalties

Justice Party, 21st National Assembly's 'First Bill'
United Party's Kim Hyung-dong "Our Party's Opinion Is Necessary"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The United Future Party is paying special attention to labor and employment issues. In particular, attention is focused on whether the United Future Party will proactively engage in discussions on the 'Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act' in the 21st National Assembly. The Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act aims to strengthen criminal penalties against business owners when workers die or are injured due to negligence in safety management. The necessity of this law has been consistently raised whenever industrial accidents occur, such as the Guui Station screen door accident and the coal-fired power plant fatal accident.

Kim Hyung-dong, a United Future Party lawmaker and former member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 22nd, "Our party must have an opinion on the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act. The basic spirit that the United Future Party should uphold is to have no unpaid wages or industrial accidents. Discussions should take place once the National Assembly's standing committees are formed," but he also pointed out, "If strict criminal penalties are the premise, acceptance will be low."

United Future Party lawmakers agree on strengthening corporate responsibility but are skeptical about criminal penalties. On the 19th, a discussion on the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act was held at the 'National Future Forum,' a joint research group of United Future Party and People’s Party lawmakers. At this meeting, Park Hyung-soo, a United Future Party lawmaker, said, "It is very unfortunate that workers die due to poor management, and responsibility should be strictly enforced," but added, "If business owners have no burden of criminal penalties when they go abroad but have direct responsibility in Korea, it could become a factor that discourages investment and business." Kim Woong, a United Future Party lawmaker, said, "When I was a prosecutor, I saw that serious accidents were punished severely. The problem is that large companies come in with industrial accident cases, but in places with low unionization rates, they become ordinary accidental death cases. In fact, more accidents seem to occur in such places."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act is a bill proposed as the 'No. 1 bill' by the Justice Party. The core of this bill is to impose a prison sentence of three years or more or a fine ranging from 50 million to 1 billion won if a business owner violates the duty to prevent hazards and risks, resulting in death. This is a strengthened version compared to the bill proposed by the late Roh Hoe-chan of the Justice Party in the 20th National Assembly. At that time, Roh’s bill stipulated imprisonment of one year or more or a fine ranging from 30 million to 300 million won, but the bill was not passed due to concerns about excessive burden on companies. Justice Party lawmaker Kang Eun-mi explained in the proposal, "The average fine imposed on corporations violating the 'Industrial Safety and Health Act' from 2013 to 2017 was about 4.48 million won," and added, "Despite the full revision of the Industrial Safety and Health Act after the death of Kim Yong-gyun, there is little sign of improvement in casualties caused by industrial accidents."

Meanwhile, the United Future Party plans to form a 'Special Committee on Future Industry Jobs' to prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution era. Lawmaker Cho Myung-hee of the United Future Party has been nominated as the chairperson of the special committee.

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