Man married this year, weeks from fatherhood, killed in forklift accident at Jeju mart; union says he had no license

A union is urging authorities to conduct a special labor inspection and establish measures to prevent a recurrence after a worker in his 20s was killed in a forklift rollover accident at a mart in Jeju.

The Jeju chapter of the Mart Industry Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Service Federation issued a statement Sunday calling on the Ministry of Employment and Labor to "promptly carry out a special labor inspection, fully clarify the circumstances of the incident, and establish measures to prevent a recurrence."

The accident occurred at around 3:33 p.m. June 19 in the underground parking lot of a mart in Aewol-eup, Jeju, when a forklift operated by a contract worker in his 20s, identified only as A, rolled over and pinned him beneath the vehicle.

The accident is believed to have happened while A had stepped away from the forklift during operation. He was rushed to a hospital immediately after but died from his injuries.

The union said "a serious industrial accident has occurred in which a young Jeju worker — who married earlier this year and whose child was due in two weeks — lost his life in a forklift rollover," adding that A "had been assigned to the task without a forklift operator's license."

The union also said A "had asked to be taken off duty after injuring his leg shortly before the accident, but the request was not accepted," and urged the employer to "explain to the bereaved family, without leaving any doubt, the circumstances under which he was assigned to that work."

"This accident was not an unfortunate incident that happened by chance — it was foreseeable," the union said, reiterating that the employer must give the family a full and transparent account of how A came to be assigned to the task.

The union also called on the Jeju provincial government to "put in place substantive measures to protect the lives and safety of young workers, not just youth policies that exist only in words."