A revision to the Occupational Safety and Health Act that imposes fines of up to 5% of operating profit on companies where three or more workers die in industrial accidents within a single year passed the National Assembly on the 1st, driven by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. The People Power Party opposed the bill as a party position, calling the penalties excessive, but took part in the vote.
The National Assembly passed the revision at its plenary session that day with 161 votes in favor, 52 against and six abstentions out of 219 members present. The core of the revision is tougher financial penalties on companies with repeated serious industrial accidents. It allows fines of up to 5% of operating profit on companies where three or more workers have died in industrial accidents within the past year. The revision also establishes grounds for requesting that relevant administrative agencies revoke a company's business registration when serious accidents occur repeatedly.
Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said after the vote that ensuring workers "are not injured or killed at the workplaces they go to in order to make a living is a basic duty of the government." He added, "We will do everything necessary, including revising subordinate regulations, so that the new system takes hold at worksites."
The rival parties clashed over the size of the fines until the final hours. The People Power Party demanded a cap of 50 billion won, arguing the burden on companies could become excessive, and decided to oppose the bill as a party position after the Democratic Party refused. Choi Soo-jin, the People Power Party's chief floor spokesperson, criticized the measure after a general meeting of party lawmakers as "legislation that puts a burden on businesses."
The People Power Party abandoned a filibuster it had initially considered and instead spoke against the bill at the plenary session. Rep. Kim Wi-sang of the People Power Party said, "If you apply the standards in this revision to recent cases, the country's second-largest construction company by capacity would immediately face registration revocation over a serious accident." He argued, "A law meant to save workers would instead throw them out onto the street."
Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party countered that "only a tiny number of companies have had three people lose their lives within a year through violations of their obligations." He said, "There is a 5% cap, and it is designed so that an appropriate amount is imposed taking into account the degree of the violation and efforts to prevent recurrence." He added, "Because it is based on operating profit rather than revenue, suggesting that trillions of won would be imposed distorts the law."
A revision to the Act on the Improvement of Urban Areas and Residential Environments, which the Democratic Party had sought to pass alongside the safety bill, was not placed on the plenary agenda that day. The bill would ease floor area ratios for public redevelopment projects to 1.3 times the legal ceiling, and the People Power Party has demanded that the same level of incentives apply to private redevelopment and rebuilding projects as well. The Democratic Party decided to push for passage again after watching how talks between the new land minister and the Seoul city government proceed.
A total of 64 bills were passed at the plenary session, including the safety act and a revision to the Emergency Medical Service Act aimed at addressing the problem of patients being turned away from one emergency room after another. Revisions to the National Pension Act, the Nanotechnology Development Promotion Act, the Game Industry Promotion Act and the Narcotics Control Act also cleared the plenary session. A revision to the Special Accounts for Rural Structural Improvement Act, which would have expanded transfers from the rural structural improvement account into the special account for balanced regional development, was voted down. Even ruling party lawmakers defected in large numbers, with some objecting that it "weakens the purpose of earmarked taxes and special accounts."
