Economic 6 Organizations "The Failure of the Bill to Postpone Serious Accident Punishment for Companies with Fewer Than 50 Employees Is Devastating"

Representatives of small and medium-sized enterprise organizations, including the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Korea Specialty Contractors Association, held a press conference on the 31st at the Korea Federation of SMEs to urge the extension of the grace period for applying the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees. Kim Sang-beom, Chairman of the Korea LPG Industry Association, is expressing his position. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

On the 9th, the six major economic organizations, including the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, the Korea Employers Federation, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea Economic Association, the Korea International Trade Association, and the Korea Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises, expressed their "deep disappointment" over the failure to pass the bill to postpone the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees.

In a joint statement released that day, the six economic organizations stated, "We express our regret and deep disappointment that the bill to postpone the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees was ultimately not passed during the December extraordinary session of the National Assembly. Despite the desperate appeals of more than 830,000 small-scale workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, the fact that the National Assembly did not even discuss the matter is an act of neglecting the livelihood of the people."

They continued, "Despite efforts by the business community and the government to postpone the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, discussions have not taken place due to claims that the efforts are still insufficient, which is frustrating. We earnestly appeal to the ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, to show a progressive stance," they added.

The six economic organizations stated, "We find it difficult to agree with the labor sector's opposition, which argues that postponing the law would spread the perception that 'we can just endure.' We emphasize our previous promise not to request additional postponements."

They further argued, "The postponement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees is intended to provide small-scale workplaces, which realistically lack the capacity for preventive investment and have not been able to prepare until now, an opportunity to improve the causes and prepare as a last resort before criminal penalties are imposed. We strongly urge the National Assembly to fully consider the desperate situation of small-scale workplaces and pass the bill to postpone the application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act before its enforcement on the 27th."

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