President Lee Jae-myung has ordered the Ministry of Employment and Labor to submit a separate report on workplaces where similar accidents have repeatedly occurred, following the explosion at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant that killed five and injured two. Police and labor authorities have launched a joint forensic investigation to determine the cause and responsibility, while the government is reviewing whether to apply the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act to Hanwha Aerospace (012450.KS).
"It is a serious problem that accidents of the same type repeatedly and continuously occur at the same workplace," Lee said at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, instructing the labor ministry to "compile such workplaces and report separately." He added, "Workplaces that people go to in order to make a living sometimes become places of death," directing relevant authorities to swiftly investigate the cause and prepare measures to prevent recurrence. The remarks are interpreted as referring to the fact that fatal explosions also occurred at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant in 2018 and 2019.
The joint forensic investigation to determine the cause of the accident began in earnest the same day. About 30 experts from related agencies, including police, fire authorities, the National Forensic Service, the labor ministry, and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, were deployed to the site to examine fire traces, the suspected ignition point, and the presence of flammable materials. Recovery of the victims' remains was carried out simultaneously, with bereaved families observing the forensic process. "We have established a support system for victims' families, including forming a dedicated victims' team and assigning one-on-one government officials," Park Mun-yong, acting head of Yuseong-gu Office, said in a briefing. "We will do our best in supporting victims, handling and recovering from the accident, identifying the cause, and preparing measures to prevent recurrence."
Various theories have been raised, including the possibility that the explosion was caused by static electricity, but determining the exact cause is expected to take time. According to police, no CCTV had been installed inside Building 56, where the explosion occurred. Police have secured CCTV footage filmed from outside Building 56 and plan to additionally obtain and analyze nearby CCTV and vehicle dashcam footage.
Labor and legal circles are paying attention to whether the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act will be applied to Hanwha Aerospace. The Serious Accidents Punishment Act stipulates that business owners or management officials who fail to fulfill their duty to ensure safety and health can be punished when fatalities occur in serious industrial accidents. At Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant, five workers were killed in an explosion in May 2018, and three more workers died in February 2019 in an explosion at a propellant demolding chamber. As both accidents occurred before the Serious Accidents Punishment Act took effect, they cannot be directly applied as grounds for aggravated punishment in this case. However, the failure to prevent similar accidents is likely to emerge as a major issue during the investigation. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon also said Tuesday that he "judges this accident to be a serious industrial accident to which the Serious Accidents Punishment Act applies."
The labor ministry on the same day also disclosed the results of the special inspection report conducted on the workplace following the 2018 and 2019 accidents. According to ministry data, the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant received the lowest grade for two consecutive years in the Process Safety Management (PSM) evaluations in 2018 and 2019. Eighty-two violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act were detected, and 208 improvement recommendations were issued. Following the consecutive explosions in 2018 and 2019, the plant was cited by the labor ministry for a total of 568 legal violations.
Funeral procedures for the victims have not yet begun in earnest as identification work has been delayed. The deceased workers are currently being kept at two hospitals in Daejeon. On the status board of one hospital's funeral hall where the bodies are kept, only labels such as "Unidentified 1" were displayed instead of the victims' names. As the bodies were severely damaged by the explosion, the National Forensic Service is conducting autopsies and forensic examinations to verify identities, and the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency is also confirming exact identities through DNA analysis. Once identification is complete, results will be notified to bereaved families, after which follow-up procedures such as setting up funeral halls will proceed. "Bereaved families can fully come only after identification is completed, but it appears it will take more time," a hospital official said. "It is currently unknown when funeral halls or memorial altars will be set up."
