Boss jailed over deadly fire at South Korea battery plant

A South Korean court has handed a 15-year prison sentence to the boss of a lithium battery maker after a deadly fire last year.

In June 2024, a blaze at a plant in Hwaseong city, about 45km (28 miles) south of the capital Seoul, killed 23 people, including 18 foreign workers, and injured eight others.

The court found the blaze was “an anticipated disaster” and that Aricell chief executive Park Soon-kwan and other executives had caused the deaths of the workers.

It is the longest jail term imposed under the country’s industrial safety law, which punishes owners or bosses of firms with at least a year in prison, or fines of up to 1 billion won ($717,000; £530,000), for fatal incidents.

Prosecutors had sought a 20-year term, arguing that company executives had made changes to the plant that meant it was difficult for workers to escape the fire.

Park’s son, who is a senior executive at the company, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 1 million won.

Investigators have said the firm did not have proper safety measures in place and did not train its workers adequately.

Park the CEO issued an apology after the fire, but denied allegations of safety lapses at the factory.

At the time of the fire, the Aricell factory housed an estimated 35,000 battery cells on its second floor, where batteries were inspected and packaged.

As lithium fires can react intensely with water, firefighters had to use dry sand to fight the fire, which took several hours to get under control.

South Korea is a leading producer of lithium batteries, which are used in many items from electric cars to laptops.

The country’s President Lee Jae Myung has said not enough is being done to protect workers from death or injury in South Korean workplaces, and has pledged to increase penalties against businesses where fatal accidents occur.