’23 people killed’ Aricel CEO arrested, first case of arrest under Serious Accidents Act

Aricell CEO Park Soon-gwan was arrested in connection with the Aricell factory fire that killed 23 people.

The Suwon District Court issued an arrest warrant for CEO Park, who is suspected of violating the Serious Accident Penalty Act, saying, “The charges are serious.”

This is the first case in which a company representative has been arrested since the Serious Accident Penalty Act was implemented in 2022.

An arrest warrant was issued for the same reason for the son of Park’s CEO, General Manager Park Jung-eon, who is suspected of violating the deportation law and causing a homicide due to work negligence.

However, arrest warrants have been issued for two people, including Mr. Jeong, the manager of Hanshin Diamond, a human resources provider, and Mr. Park, the head of Aricell’s safety management team, who were also asked for arrest warrants, saying, “No there is no concern about the destruction of evidence or escape.”

Before that, in June, a fire broke out at the Aricell factory in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, killing 23 people and injuring 8 people.

As a result of the investigation, it was concluded that Aricell illegally employed unskilled workers in the manufacturing process to meet the delivery date, and that the defective batteries produced during This process leads to explosion and fire.