“How can the company that killed my son be innocent?” Kim Yong-gyun 5th anniversary memorial service

“Two days ago, the Supreme Court put all our hard work in vain. “How can the company that killed my son be innocent?” The late Kim Yong-gyun’s mother, Kim Mi-sook, CEO of the Kim Yong-gyun Foundation, said this about the Supreme Court ruling two days ago that acquitted those responsible for the industrial accident. Representative Kim said, “The Occupational Safety and Health Act has been revised to change the treatment of non-regular workers, and the Act on Punishment of Serious Accidents (Serious Accident Punishment Act) has been enacted, but unfair deaths have not decreased at all.” He added, “It ended the life of a 24-year-old young man and his parents “I reject the court’s standard that the perpetrators who ruined the lives of others cannot be punished,” he said. Two days later, on the 11th, it has been five years since Kim Yong-gyun, a temporary worker at Korea Power Generation Technology, a subcontractor of Western Power Company, was found dead after being caught in a conveyor belt at the Taean Thermal Power Plant in South Chungcheong Province in 2018. While the ‘2-person team’ work manual was not followed, Mr. Kim suffered a disaster while working alone all night. The ‘Young Non-regular Worker Kim Yong-gyun 5th Anniversary Memorial Committee’, a gathering of 102 civil society organizations including the Kim Yong-gyun Foundation and the Industrial Accident Victim Family Network ‘Never Again’, held a ‘Kim Yong-gyun 5th Anniversary Memorial Rally’ at Bosingak Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 9th and said, “Safety and “Life must come before anything else and there can be no discrimination,” he said, adding, “We demand a society where everyone can work and live safely and healthily.” On this day, about 500 citizens, including bereaved families of the Itaewon disaster and bereaved families of industrial accident victims, filled the square at the memorial rally. The citizens gathered on this day chanted the slogan, “Don’t die while working, don’t be discriminated against,” during the competition.

Citizens who attended the ‘Kim Yong-gyun 5th Anniversary Memorial Rally’ held at Bosingak Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul at 5:06 p.m. on the 9th filled the square. Reporter Go Gyeong-ju

At the convention, voices were raised criticizing the Supreme Court ruling that acquitted those responsible for the industrial accident. On the 7th, the 2nd Division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Lee Dong-won) confirmed the original verdict that acquitted Kim Byeong-sook, former CEO of Korea Western Power Company, and others who were indicted on charges of occupational manslaughter and violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Lee In-gu (68), who first discovered Kim Yong-gyun’s body, said, “The president is the one who values ​​safety and must take responsibility, but the Supreme Court’s not guilty verdict is like saying that the president does not have to know about the risk of industrial accidents.” He added, “I am so angry and unfair.” “He said. Jeong Man-seung (71) from Geumcheon-gu, Seoul said, “Mr. Kim Yong-gyun died while doing the work alone, which should have been done in a team of two. Doesn’t that mean no one is responsible for this?” and “I couldn’t help but be angry at the ridiculous acquittal.” did. Recently, there was criticism that the government and ruling party are pushing for a two-year delay in expanding the application of the Serious Accident Punishment Act to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees from January 27 next year. Attorney Kwon Young-guk (co-representative of the Serious Accident Expert Network) said, “According to the status of industrial accidents announced every year by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, more than 80% of serious industrial accidents occur in workplaces with less than 50 employees.” He added, “It was established to protect the lives and safety of workers.” They branded one law a ‘killer regulation that blocks corporate investment’ and eventually began procedures to postpone the application of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, led by small and medium-sized business owners. “Our society’s efforts to create a corporate culture that prioritizes safety will be in vain.”

Attorney Kwon Young-guk (co-representative of Serious Accident Expert Net) is speaking at the ‘Kim Yong-gyun 5th Anniversary Memorial Rally’ held at Bosingak Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul at around 5:20 pm on the 9th. Reporter Go Gyeong-ju

Criticism of the Yoon Seok-yeol government’s anti-labor policies continued, including the exercise of the right to reconsider (veto) the Yellow Envelope Act (Amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act). Yoo Sang-i (55), who works at a rebar production plant, said, “Even now, there are cases where people do not receive proper compensation for industrial accidents, and I am so angry when I hear the news that they are exercising their veto power on the yellow envelope law.” He added, “President Yoon is not interested in politics.” “It shouldn’t be done this way,” he said. Kim Geum-young, head of the Seoul branch of the National Health Insurance Customer Service Center, said, “I sincerely hope that the Yellow Envelope Act will be promulgated as soon as possible, creating a working environment where workers do not die while working and where compensation and treatment are non-discriminatory.” They marched to the Seoul City Hall Plaza where the Itaewon disaster incense burner is located at around 6:20 pm that day, burned incense together, and ended the memorial service. Reporter Go Byeong-chan kick@hani.co.kr Reporter Go Gyeong-ju goh@hani.co.kr