Serious Accident Injuries and Occupational Diseases, Up to 7 Years Imprisonment... Stricter Than Original Plan

Provisions for Enhanced Punishment if Reoffended
Attempt to Resume Agreement in Legislation and Judiciary Committee Subcommittee Meeting

Baek Hye-ryun, Chairperson of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's First Subcommittee on Bill Review, attended the First Subcommittee on Bill Review of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on the 29th and spoke with Lee Yong-gwan, father of the late PD Lee Han-bit, Kim Mi-sook, mother of the late Kim Yong-gyun and director of the Kim Yong-gyun Foundation, and Kang Eun-mi, floor leader of the Justice Party, urging the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] As the ruling and opposition parties attempt to reach an agreement on the detailed provisions of the "Serious Accident Punishment Act," it has been reported that they have agreed to raise the level of punishment for management in cases of accidents other than death, which was previously set at imprisonment of "up to 3 years," to "up to 7 years." Additionally, a clause to impose aggravated punishment if serious accidents recur will also be established.

On the 5th, the Subcommittee of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a review meeting on the Serious Accident Punishment Act and reached this consensus regarding the "punishment of business owners and management officials." Representative Park Jumin's proposal stipulated "imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 100 million won" for serious accidents other than death, but the government proposed "imprisonment of up to 7 years or a fine of up to 100 million won," considering the statutory penalties for occupational negligence causing injury and bodily harm under the Criminal Act, and this was accepted as is.

In cases of fatal accidents, management will be subject to "imprisonment of at least 1 year or a fine of up to 1 billion won." This is a relaxation compared to the government's proposal (imprisonment of at least 2 years or a fine between 50 million and 1 billion won), lowering the minimum imprisonment term and removing the minimum fine. However, the provision for "optional concurrent sentencing," allowing courts discretion to impose both imprisonment and fines, was included.

The clause presuming causality that defines those who have violated safety obligations three or more times within five years as the cause of serious accidents is set to be deleted. Instead, if a person commits the same offense again within five years after a serious accident sentence is confirmed, the punishment will be increased by up to half of the original sentence.

Fines imposed on corporations are set at up to 5 billion won for fatal accidents and up to 1 billion won for injuries. The same level of punishment will apply to management and corporations not only for industrial accidents but also for "serious civilian disasters" such as the Sewol ferry disaster.

Regarding punitive damages, the maximum limit is set at five times the amount of damages. While Representative Park Jumin's proposal set five times as the minimum, the government considered it excessively heavy compared to other punitive damages laws and proposed a reviewed version, which was adopted.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee subcommittee will hold another meeting on the 6th to push for agreement on remaining issues. One of the main controversies is whether to grant a grace period depending on the size of the workplace. The Democratic Party's proposal is a "4-year grace period for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees," while the government has proposed either a "2-year grace period for workplaces with 50 to 100 employees" or a "2-year grace period for workplaces with fewer than 300 employees." Additionally, the scope of public-use facilities to which the law applies and whether to include small business owners are also issues that the ruling and opposition parties need to resolve.

Regarding the punishment of public officials, the People Power Party proposed imposing aggravated punishment if they commit dereliction of duty under the Criminal Act, but Representative Park Jumin opposes this, so further discussion is needed.

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