Supreme Court upholds four-year sentence for Aricell CEO — Korea Herald
South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld a four-year prison sentence for Aricell CEO Park Soon-kwan. He was found guilty, among other charges, of violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act following a fire at the company’s plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The fire on June 24, 2024, killed 23 workers, including 18 foreigners, Korea Herald reports.
Sentences for company executives
The CEO’s son, Aricell general manager Park Jung-won, received seven years in prison and a fine of 1 million won, or about $753. He was convicted on separate charges, including negligence in the performance of professional duties and violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The court also upheld an 800 million won fine for Aricell.
Prosecutors pointed to shortcomings in the inspection and storage of batteries, worker training and the conduct of fire drills. Park Soon-kwan was found guilty of failing to assess workplace risks and prepare procedures and instructions to prevent serious accidents.
The court of first instance sentenced both executives to 15 years in prison each — at the time, these were the harshest sentences under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which has been in force since 2022. The appeals court reduced the terms to four and seven years respectively, and the Supreme Court upheld that decision.
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Position of the victims’ families
During the appeal hearing, one of the key issues was the evacuation routes from the plant. The bodies of 21 victims were found in a packaging room on the second floor. Investigators established that a sandwich-panel partition stood between the workers and another exit. At the same time, the appeals court concluded that safety rules did not require a separate emergency exit on every floor and found no breach of the duty to maintain the exit.
The victims’ families and their lawyers criticized the decision. They noted that it was announced in about 10 seconds without explanations in the courtroom and said they may file a constitutional complaint if they identify significant errors or distortions in the legal reasoning.
Relatives also report that remains of the victims that have not yet been recovered may remain on the grounds of the damaged enterprise. Aricell’s parent company, S-Connect, became the owner of the site. According to family representatives, Gyeonggi Province authorities plan to meet with the company and the victims’ relatives to discuss further searches.
