South Korea's new president, injured as a child labourer, cracks down on 'workplaces of death'

South Korean Kim Yong-ho thought he would die within seconds after a 200-kilogram industrial press at a Hyundai Steel plant sprang to life during maintenance and crushed his legs and back.

It was 2019, and Kim said he thought the heavy machinery around him had been switched off as he made repairs.

"I was flattened like a squashed frog in a roadkill," he said. "I couldn't breathe for a few seconds."

A quick-thinking colleague saved his life by alerting the machine's operator, said Kim, now 39.

Haunted by his own injuries as a child labourer, South Korea's new President Lee Jae Myung - who crushed his finger and arm making rubber and later baseball gloves - has vowed to lower the country's above-average rate of industrial accidents in what he calls "workplaces of death."

So far, his administration has raided companies, increased spending to prevent industrial accidents and expanded workplace protections to subcontracted labourers, among other initiatives. His critics, however, say he is punishing companies - not proactively protecting workers - and they believe his pro-labour rhetoric is nothing more than repackaged populism.

In its 37 trillion won ($27 billion) budget for 2026, the Labour Ministry increased spending to prevent industrial accidents and said it would fine companies up to 5% of their operating profit if they recorded three deaths or more in a year.

The president has also visited firms to press for improved safety and set up a special team to investigate industrial accidents. Some companies have already reacted by shortening work shifts, sacking officials and pausing projects.

Labour Minister Kim Young-hoon, a former train operator and labour activist, said the new policies would not be effective unless attitudes change about work.

"There has been a perception in South Korea that we should sacrifice some casualties in order to push the country to grow faster," he said in an interview. "If we don't bring a fundamental change to such perceptions, no policy would work."

According to International Labour Organization (ILO) data from 2023, South Korea had 3.9 deaths per 100,000 workers, well above the OECD average of 2.6.

For fatal construction accidents, South Korea has the second-highest rate among OECD member countries with 15.9 deaths per 100,000 workers, according to ILO and official Korean data compiled by Reuters.

Deadly record

Earlier this month, a hulking, decommissioned heating structure at a power station in Ulsan collapsed on nine workers as they prepared to demolish it. A couple were quickly rescued but seven others were trapped; rescuers worked for more than a week to recover their lifeless bodies.

"I used to be a factory worker and I was a victim of an industrial accident too," President Lee said in July during a visit to a bread factory run by SPC Group where a worker was crushed to death in May.

After Lee's visit, SPC changed work shifts to an eight-hour schedule from 12-hour shifts.

Over the past few months, builder POSCO E&C sacked its chief executive and halted 103 construction sites following the deaths of two expressway builders. Shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean apologised and suspended operations after a supervisor died at its shipyard. Nearly 80 executives at DL Construction tendered their resignations after a death at a construction site.

POSCO, DL and Hanwha said they resumed operations and construction after undertaking safety measures.

Veneer of change?

In 2024, South Korea's Serious Accidents Punishment Act was applied to workplaces employing five or more people. Under it, employers can face a jail term of at least a year for a single death.

But deaths have not dropped over the past five years, rising 4.1% to 2,098 in 2024. Nearly 86% of employers accused of violating the law were released on probation and paid an average fine of 73 million won.

Critics say the South Korean president is sounding populist notes and scapegoating companies rather than preventing accidents.

Jung Jin-woo, a professor in the Department of Safety Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, said South Korea has many more safety inspectors than some developed countries and Lee's plans only give the perception of safety.

"If (Lee) keeps pushing companies to meet standards that they can never meet, they may focus on just pretending to do it," Jung said.

Labour Minister Kim said the government is taking preventive - not just punitive - steps, like subsidising companies' safety equipment purchases.

"This is not a political show or a temporary thing at all," Kim said.

The minister said Korea's problem with industrial accidents is made worse because companies hire chains of subcontractors to skirt legal responsibility and cut costs. In August, the liberal Democratic Party passed the Yellow Envelope Act, which expands protection to subcontracted workers.

In a statement, the 1.2 million-member Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said Korea East-West Power, the government-run company that operated the site of the deadly power plant collapse earlier this month, tried to avoid risks by hiring outsourced workers. The union also said the company's safety rules were lacking.

Kwon Myung-ho, CEO of Korea East-West Power, said on Thursday that the company will investigate the cause of the accident and try to remedy the situation.

Kim, the temporary Hyundai Steel worker who was hospitalised for a month and took a two-year leave to deal with mental illness after his accident, said he had to resume his former job to make a living, even though he saw no safety improvements. A Hyundai Steel spokesperson declined to comment.

"Nothing has changed after I returned," Kim said.