President Lee Jae-myung on the 2nd ordered the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) to "identify business sites where the same type of accident occurs repeatedly and continuously within the same establishment and report them separately," in connection with the explosion at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon business site. Five people were killed and two were injured in the Hanwha Aerospace accident that occurred the previous day, and the government said it would conduct an intensive inspection in light of the fact that this is the third accident at this business site, which develops rocket boosters.
At a cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on the morning of the same day, Lee said, "It is a serious problem when the same type of accident occurs repeatedly within the same business site," and added, "Thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and make every effort to establish measures to prevent a recurrence." Explosions also occurred at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon business site in 2018 and 2019. Thirteen people have died in the three accidents.
Lee said, "Workplaces people go to in order to live sometimes become places of death. Is our society sufficiently respectful of human life?" He added, "I question whether our society truly respects and cherishes human life enough." He continued, "One person's life itself is another universe, and I wonder whether it is being treated equally."
A dedicated investigation team at the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency conducted a joint on-site examination that day with the fire authorities, the National Forensic Service, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and other relevant agencies. Hanwha said, "At the time of the explosion, workers were cleaning gunpowder that had stuck to tools used to make propellants for launch vehicles." Authorities have secured the manual for cleaning gunpowder and are investigating whether safety rules were followed and whether safety management was negligent. Bereaved families also took part in the joint examination. Police asked the National Forensic Service the previous day to analyze the DNA of the bereaved families and the deceased to confirm identities, and they plan to conduct autopsies in the afternoon.