On the Eve of the 3rd Anniversary of the Late Kim Yong-gyun... Memorial Committee States "Kim Yong-gyun Special Investigation Committee Recommendations Not Implemented"

Chumo Committee "Slow On-Site Changes Tangible to Coal-Fired Power Plant Workers"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] On the eve of the 3rd anniversary of the late Kim Yong-gyun, the Kim Yong-gyun 3rd Anniversary Memorial Committee criticized that the recommendations of the Kim Yong-gyun Special Investigation Committee (Special Committee) are not being properly implemented.

On the 9th, the Memorial Committee held the ‘Kim Yong-gyun Special Committee Implementation Inspection Report Meeting’ in Jung-gu, Seoul, and criticized, “Despite the recommendations of the Kim Yong-gyun Special Committee, a fact-finding body led by the government with participation from civil society and labor groups, the on-site changes that coal-fired power plant workers can feel are slow.”

Kwon Yong-guk, a private member of the Kim Yong-gyun Special Committee Implementation Inspection Team and a lawyer, emphasized, “The structure where the primary contractor and subcontractor can shift responsibility to each other creates a gap in risk management,” adding, “The phenomenon of risks being neglected has become normalized and this concentrates in accidents involving subcontracted workers.”

Furthermore, Lee Yoon-geun, director of the Labor Environment and Health Research Institute, said, “Safety and health information should be approached from the user’s perspective, not the supplier’s, and delivered in an easily understandable way,” and added, “The workers’ substantive right to participate must be guaranteed, as well as the right to avoid risks when they are predictable.”

Lee Tae-sung, a non-regular power plant worker, criticized, “Among 2,983 workers in the operation sector and 3,578 in routine maintenance, not a single person has been regularized,” and said, “It is deplorable that the government is trying to push workers back into employment insecurity and outsourcing of risks.”

The Kim Yong-gyun Foundation, a non-profit organization, has designated June 6?10 as the memorial period for the 3rd anniversary of Kim Yong-gyun and is conducting on-site memorial services at the Taean Power Plant and candlelight marches. The late Kim Yong-gyun died in an accident during equipment inspection at the Taean Power Plant in December 2018.

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