Small and Medium Business Community Returns to National Assembly: "Serious Accident Punishment Act, Overlegislation with Legal Contradictions"

Representing small and medium-sized enterprise organizations, Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, is conveying the positions of SMEs regarding the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (Serious Accident Act) to Yoon Ho-jung, Chairman of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee (right).
[Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] On the 5th, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) organizations visited Yoon Ho-jung, Chairman of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, to appeal for the suspension of the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (Serious Accidents Act).

This meeting was urgently held to convey the voices of the SME sector regarding the Serious Accidents Act once again to the National Assembly. Four SME organizations attended the meeting: the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Korea Specialty Contractors Association, the Korea Mechanical Equipment Construction Association, and the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise. The SME organizations had previously delivered a position statement on the Serious Accidents Act to the floor leaders of both ruling and opposition parties the day before.

On this day, the SME sector pointed out that the Serious Accidents Act is clearly an excessive legislation and contains legal contradictions. They argued that stipulating quadruple punishments such as criminal penalties for representatives, corporate fines, administrative sanctions, and punitive damages is excessive legislation, and that imposing harsher punishments on business owners with indirect management responsibility than on those with direct relevance is legally contradictory.

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, emphasized, "99% of SMEs have owners who are also representatives," adding, "Due to the subcontracting structure and poor financial conditions, SME business owners inevitably become the focal point of all accidents." He added, "The level of industrial accident punishment in our country is already the highest in the world," and lamented, "Imposing a minimum of two years imprisonment on business owners leads to complaints that it means SMEs should not conduct business."

Chairman Kim stated, "If enactment is inevitable, at least only repeated fatal accidents should be dealt with under the Serious Accidents Act," and added, "Cases from advanced countries should be referenced so that companies can be exempt from punishment if they have fulfilled the prescribed obligations."

Meanwhile, the SME sector has been appealing for the suspension of the Serious Accidents Act several times recently, following the delivery of a joint statement from 30 economic organizations to the National Assembly on November 19 last year. Since the 24th of last month, voices requesting suspension of the enactment have been rising among SMEs located in regions such as Busan.

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