Police on the 1st launched "serious accident investigation teams" dedicated to probing industrial accident fatalities at the 17 metropolitan and provincial police agencies nationwide.
This follows President Lee Jae-myung's directive in Jul. for police to establish a dedicated investigative framework to eradicate industrial accident deaths.
According to police, the teams are under each regional police agency's detective mobile unit, with 20 teams and 100 officers deployed. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency also formed a dedicated forensic team responsible for examinations of major serious accident cases.
The Korean National Police Agency plans to expand related modules in the existing Police Investigation Training Institute curriculum and enhance expertise in industrial accident investigations through joint training with labor inspectors at the Ministry of Employment and Labor. It will also run a standing consultative body with the ministry, and maintain constant coordination from the early stages of individual cases by dispatching personnel and setting up direct lines among local investigation teams. In addition, it plans to cooperate actively when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requests investigations into illegal acts such as unlawful re-subcontracting.
Park Sung-ju, commissioner general of the National Office of Investigation, visited Suwon Jangan Police Station in the afternoon, where the largest number of personnel (24 in the investigation team and 5 in the forensic team) work, and called for a stern investigation. He said, "We must eradicate industrial accident deaths and secure public safety by comprehensively investigating not only fatal industrial accidents but also corrupt acts such as bribery and rebates, which are structural causes of serious accidents."
According to police, from Aug. 7, when the immediate reporting system for industrial accidents was set up, to Sept. 26, there were 429 fatal and injury accidents at industrial sites, and 115 people died.
Acting Korean National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoo Jae-sung said, "We will identify areas for institutional improvement based on what investigations confirm, convey them to the labor ministry, and carry out activities to prevent accidents in parallel."