Companies in South Korea to Face Fines of Up to 5% of Profits for Repeated Fatal Accidents, Ministry Says

South Korea will introduce a new industrial safety regulation under which companies that record more than three employee deaths in workplace accidents annually will be fined up to 5% of their operating profits, the Ministry of Labor announced on Monday.

The ministry stated that the government also plans to amend industrial safety laws to revoke the licenses of construction firms that are repeatedly ordered to halt operations due to fatal accidents.

President Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June, has emphasized the importance of improving employment safety and directed the Labor Minister to introduce stricter rules to penalize employers responsible for recurring fatal accidents.

Last year, 589 people lost their lives in employment-related accidents, with nearly half of those occurring in the construction sector.

Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said during a briefing, “Industrial accidents not only claim lives but also cause significant harm to the national economy and reduce productivity across companies.”

He added, “It is the government’s fundamental responsibility to ensure that people do not lose their lives at their workplaces.”

Kim further noted that the proposed changes will require amendments to the industrial safety legislation by the National Assembly.

Last month, the parliament, controlled by President Lee’s liberal Democratic Party, passed an amendment to the Labor Union Act aimed at strengthening the rights of contract workers, allowing them to communicate directly with the primary contractor.

Kim cited the practice of large companies hiring subcontractors to outsource hazardous work and avoid legal accountability as one of the major causes of frequent industrial accidents.