[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

“Six workers die at Hyundai Steel despite serious accident punishment law, union calls it a 'predicted tragedy’” 19 March 2025

Six workers have lost their lives at Hyundai Steel since the implementation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act in January 2022. The union has demanded that the Ministry of Employment and Labour carry out a special labour inspection into the serious accidents that have occurred at Hyundai Steel since the law came into effect, urging the creation of a safer workplace where workers can perform their duties without fear of death.

…The union specifically addressed the recent fall accident at Hyundai Steel’s Pohang plant, claiming that “after declaring emergency management, the company pushed through restructuring measures, including forcing workers into voluntary retirement and reassignment to other positions, as it was difficult to close the Pohang No. 2 plant.” The union went on to assert that during this process, a young contract worker, originally stationed at the No. 2 plant, was reassigned to the No. 1 plant, where he was tasked with unfamiliar work and tragically lost his life.

On the 14th, a 20-year-old contract worker died after slipping while working at the top of an electric furnace at the Pohang heavy steel plant. He was trying to remove a slag splash from the furnace’s electrode when he fell into the slag pot at the base of the furnace, resulting in his death.

The union also reported that "there have been 84 fatal accidents over the past 20 years, with an average of four workers killed each year in serious industrial accidents." They have called on the company to halt its restructuring efforts and restore the safety and health prevention budget to its previous level.