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A South Korean court has sentenced Park Soon-kwan, chief executive of lithium battery maker Aricell, to 15 years in prison over a factory fire that killed 23 people in June 2024.
The blaze, which broke out at the company’s plant in Hwaseong, about 45 kilometers south of Seoul, claimed the lives of 18 foreign workers and injured eight others. Investigators described the incident as “an anticipated disaster,” blaming company executives for poor safety standards that prevented workers from escaping.
Prosecutors had requested a 20-year sentence, arguing that changes made to the facility compromised evacuation routes. The court, however, imposed a 15-year term, the longest jail sentence ever handed down under South Korea’s industrial safety law.
The ruling also saw Park’s son, a senior executive at Aricell, handed the same sentence and fined one million won.
The court heard that the factory housed around 35,000 lithium battery cells on its second floor at the time of the fire. Firefighters struggled to control the blaze, as lithium fires react dangerously with water and had to be extinguished with dry sand.
Although Park publicly apologized after the tragedy, he denied responsibility for safety lapses. Investigators, however, found the firm had failed to put adequate safety measures in place and had not provided proper worker training.
South Korea is a global leader in lithium battery production, supplying components for devices ranging from laptops to electric vehicles. But the disaster has reignited debate about workplace safety in the country. President Lee Jae Myung has since pledged tougher penalties against businesses where fatal accidents occur, saying more must be done to protect workers.
