President Lee Jae-myung said Monday that his government will "mobilize every possible means to ensure that workplaces no longer become sites of death."
Marking Industrial Accident Workers' Day, the president posted a message on Facebook, saying, "I deeply mourn all the workers who never returned home from their workplaces." He added, "I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and wish a swift recovery to all those undergoing treatment and rehabilitation."
Lee said eradicating industrial accidents is "a key policy task of the people's sovereignty government," emphasizing that "safety-based sustainable growth is a core principle of state affairs that can never be shaken." He noted that workplace fatalities fell 17.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, citing "multifaceted government efforts combined with cooperation between labor and management" as signs of change on the ground.
Still, the president said, "We still have a long way to go, in the face of the weight of precious lives we failed to protect and the heart-wrenching cries of those who have lost family members and neighbors." He pledged to "thoroughly overhaul laws and institutions so that the familiar tragedy, with only the victims changing, is not repeated due to neglected hazards and small gaps," adding, "If necessary, we will establish new standards and systems."
"We can never take pride in being the world's 10th-largest economy while bearing the stigma of having the highest workplace fatality rate among OECD countries," Lee said. "Growth achieved in safe workplaces is what constitutes sustainable growth that guarantees the happiness of the people." He pledged to "fulfill this responsibility to the end, so that Industrial Accident Workers' Day becomes not only a day of mourning and remembrance but also a day for pledging safety and speaking of recovery."
