Speaker Woo Wonsik Pays Respects at Kim Choonghyun's Funeral, Vows National Assembly Will Fulfill Its Duty

In the guestbook:
"We will create a society where no one dies while working"

Woo Wonsik, Speaker of the National Assembly, visited the funeral hall of Kim Choonghyun (age 50), a subcontracted worker who died at Korea Western Power's Taean Thermal Power Plant, and stated, "The National Assembly will fulfill its responsibilities."

Woo Wonsik, Speaker of the National Assembly, is visiting the funeral hall of Kim Choonghyun set up at Taean Medical Center in Taean County, Chungnam, on the 8th to offer condolences. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 8th, Speaker Woo visited Kim's funeral hall set up at Taean Medical Center in Taean County, Chungnam, to offer condolences and comfort the bereaved family. In the guestbook, he wrote, "We will create a society where no one dies while working. My deepest condolences to the deceased."

He said, "I came here with the intention that our society should move forward together, using this incident as an opportunity. The duty of the National Assembly is, above all, to make society safer through laws and systems, and the most important mission of the state is to protect the lives and safety of its people. However, we have failed to fulfill that responsibility."

Speaker Woo added, "I apologize to the public that such an accident occurred despite the National Assembly's obligation to fulfill its role through laws and systems."

Speaker Woo referred to his experience in 2018 as the floor leader of the ruling party, when he organized a special investigation committee following the death of Kim Yonggyun. He stated, "There were many promises made, but there were also shortcomings."

He continued, "We must reflect and examine ourselves, as such incidents have happened again. It is regrettable that we did not resolve this issue seven years ago when we had the chance. Together with all of you, we will thoroughly investigate the process and the problems, and based on the results, we will discuss in detail how to resolve the issues and develop countermeasures."

After offering condolences, Speaker Woo moved to the Taean Thermal Power Plant to inspect the facilities on site.

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