"Late Kim Yong-gyun Death Case", Primary Contractor Representative Also "Not Guilty" in Appeal Trial

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The court has once again sided with the company in the case of the late Kim Yong-gyun's death. The deceased died in December 2018 after being caught in a coal transport conveyor belt while working at the Korea Western Power Taean Thermal Power Plant. At the time, he was 24 years old and employed as a non-regular worker under Korea Power Engineering Company.

On the 9th, the Daejeon District Court Criminal Appeal Division 2 (Chief Judge Choi Hyung-cheol) acquitted former Korea Western Power President Kim Byung-sook, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter and violating the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

On that day, the court ruled, “Korea Western Power delegated the establishment of safety and health management plans and work environment improvements to the power headquarters, and therefore does not have a duty of care to inspect equipment and work environments within the Taean Power Headquarters.”

It further explained, “To recognize a specific duty of care, it must be possible to perceive that the inspection work by on-site operators is dangerous, but it is difficult to see that Korea Western Power was aware of the risks in the operators’ work methods.”

Earlier, the first trial court (in February last year) also acquitted former Korea Western Power President Kim Byung-sook, judging that it was difficult for him to have specifically recognized the dangers of the conveyor belt identified as the cause of the deceased’s death and the issues in the subcontracting contract with the subcontractor.

Thus, the judgments and sentencing backgrounds of the appellate and first trial courts were essentially the same.

However, the judgments regarding former Korea Power Engineering President Baek Nam-ho and employees of Korea Western Power’s Taean Power Headquarters differed.

While the first trial court sentenced former President Baek to 1 year and 6 months imprisonment with 2 years probation and fined the Taean Power Headquarters employee 10 million won, the appellate court overturned the original ruling, sentencing Baek to 1 year imprisonment with 2 years probation and acquitting two Taean Power Headquarters employees. The sentences were reduced on appeal.

Along with them, nine officials from Korea Western Power and Korea Power Engineering, who were sentenced to fines and suspended prison terms in the first trial, received the same or lighter sentences in the appeal.

Additionally, the fine imposed on the Korea Power Engineering corporation was reduced to 12 million won in the appeal (from 15 million won in the first trial).

Meanwhile, regarding the appellate verdict, the Kim Yong-gyun Foundation urged the prosecution to appeal. The organization held a press conference in front of the Daejeon District Court, stating, “The appellate court’s decision is more shocking than the first trial’s verdict,” and lamented, “If improvements cannot be made through the death of the deceased and the many subsequent deaths like Kim Yong-gyun’s, how can reality be changed in the future?”

Previously, the prosecution had sought 2 years imprisonment for former Korea Western Power President Kim Byung-sook and 1 year and 6 months imprisonment for former Korea Power Engineering President Baek Nam-ho.

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