A joint memorial altar to mourn the five workers who died in the explosion at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon business site has been set up at Yuseong District Office in Daejeon. Hanwha Aerospace is also operating separate memorial spaces at 10 business sites nationwide.
According to Hanwha Aerospace and the city of Daejeon on the 5th, a joint memorial altar for the five victims of the explosion at the Daejeon business site was installed that day in the first-floor lobby of Yuseong District Office in Daejeon. The altar will be open through the 25th, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
At about 10:59 a.m. on the 1st, an explosion occurred in a cleaning room of Building 56 at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon business site in Oesam-dong, Yuseong District, Daejeon. Five workers were killed and two were injured. Among those who died were an employee who had worked at the establishment for more than 20 years and a new employee in the third month after joining. At the time of the accident, they were reportedly cleaning gunpowder from tools used in propellant production.
The bereaved families visited the altar in the morning to lay flowers and mourn the deceased. Chief Executive Son Jae-il of Hanwha Aerospace, executives and employees, and labor union officials also paid their respects at the altar. Son said, "We will do our utmost to lessen, even a little, the sorrow of colleagues who tragically lost their lives and of those in deep grief," adding, "We will use this accident as a turning point to overhaul our safety system from the ground up."
Heo Tae-jeong, the Daejeon mayor-elect, also visited the altar to pay his respects. Heo said, "We plan to conduct safety checks through a full-scale inspection of all business sites in Daejeon," adding, "We will start by reviewing the safety management manual and prepare comprehensive measures."
From today through the 25th, Hanwha Aerospace will operate joint memorial altars at 10 business sites nationwide, including the Hanwha Building in Janggyo-dong, Seoul; the Changwon 1, 2, and 3 business sites; the Asan business site; the Daejeon business site; the Daejeon R&D Center; the Boeun business site; the Yeosu business site; and the Pangyo R&D Center. Hanwha Aerospace said, "We express our deepest condolences to the deceased and the bereaved families," adding, "We have prepared a memorial space so that all executives and employees can together pray for the repose of the deceased."
Police and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) searched and seized three locations the previous day, including Hanwha Aerospace's headquarters in Seoul and the R&D campus at the Daejeon business site. Police are analyzing the seized materials to investigate the cause of the accident, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor is reviewing potential violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration is also operating a safety-accident response task force (TF) for accident response and follow-up measures. Administrator Lee Yong-chul of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration visited the accident site that day to check on the response, then went to the altar and said, "No value can take precedence over workers' safety," adding, "We will devise thorough measures to prevent similar accidents from recurring."
Starting the previous day, Hanwha Aerospace temporarily suspended operations at nine business sites nationwide and is conducting special safety inspections.