The CEO of Hankook Steel, First to Receive Prison Sentence under Serious Accident Punishment Act, Also Sentenced to Imprisonment in Appeal Trial

A, CEO of Korea Steel, who became the first head of a primary contractor to receive a prison sentence for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and other charges, was sentenced to imprisonment again in the appellate court.

The appellate court of Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam upheld the original sentence of 1 year imprisonment for A and a fine of 100 million won for Korea Steel Corporation at the second trial sentencing hearing held at 2 p.m. on the 23rd.

Changwon District Court, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Se-ryeong Lee

A was indicted on charges of failing to fulfill safety obligations related to the death of B, a man in his 60s, who was crushed by a 1.2-ton heat shield while working at Korea Steel in Haman, Gyeongnam, on March 16 last year.

The prosecution stated that A, responsible for the safety and health management system, failed to fulfill duties such as establishing evaluation criteria for subcontractors' industrial accident prevention capabilities and technologies, as well as performance evaluation criteria for safety and health managers, resulting in B's death. In November last year, the prosecution demanded a 2-year prison sentence for A and a fine of 150 million won for the company.

In the original trial, A was sentenced to 1 year in prison and was taken into custody in court, and Korea Steel Corporation was fined 100 million won.

A appealed on the grounds that the first trial sentence was too harsh, and the prosecution appealed claiming the sentence was too light, but both appeals were dismissed.

The appellate court stated, "Considering that A and the corporation admitted to the charges and showed remorse, that the victim also bore some fault in this death incident, that the defendant reached a settlement with the victim’s family who requested leniency, and that the defendant mostly complied with the labor authorities' corrective orders, these factors are worthy of consideration."

It added, "However, since these factors were already considered by the first trial court, and given the considerable grace period after the enactment of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, as well as multiple prior violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act before this death incident, it is difficult to view the sentence as excessive. Therefore, the sentencing in the first trial is appropriate," the court ruled.

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