Labor minister warns employers who prioritize cost over safety face heavy responsibility

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon said Saturday that employers must be clearly told they bear heavy responsibility if they continue to prioritize cost reduction over worker safety even after fatal accidents have occurred.

Kim made the remarks at an emergency meeting of regional labor office heads convened to strengthen the government's industrial safety response, urging local officials to take a more active role in preventing workplace accidents. The meeting brought together the heads of all 49 regional and district employment and labor offices nationwide.

Kim instructed the officials to conduct thorough inspections to prevent serious accidents from recurring at workplaces that have already been inspected or supervised, and to apply a zero-tolerance policy when violations are found.

"We must have a clear sense of the gravity of the problem when it comes to companies where the same type of serious accident keeps happening," Kim said. "Please approach inspections of repeat-offender companies as if they were special investigations."

Kim also raised the issue of recurring industrial accidents at the Daebul National Industrial Complex in Yeongam-gun, South Jeolla Province, directing officials to examine whether the cause lies in aging facilities, insufficient awareness or effort on the part of labor and management, or inadequate attention from the ministry itself. Eleven workers died in serious accidents at the complex from January last year through September this year. On Tuesday, a 28-year-old worker identified only as A was found collapsed while welding inside a ship tank at HD Hyundai Samho within the complex. The worker was taken to a hospital but died.

Kim added that the Labor Supervisor Duties Execution Act takes effect in a month, marking the first overhaul of the ministry's role in 73 years. "Headquarters and regional offices must prepare thoroughly together, and I will be the first to lace up my safety boots again," he said.

The remark referred to the act's Dec. 8 effective date, under which some of the ministry's labor inspection authority will be delegated to local governments.

"Headquarters should focus on advancing key policy tasks — including the budget and legislation — during the regular National Assembly session, while regional offices should concentrate their capacity on inspections so that the public can feel the difference," Kim said. "We must work to ensure the new system takes root on the ground."

The regional office heads then presented their priority initiatives for reducing fatal workplace accidents during the remainder of the year.