On the third anniversary of the death of the late Kim Yong-gyun, an irregular worker who got caught in a conveyor belt at the Taean Thermal Power Plant in South Chungcheong Province, SBS reporters analyzed the first trial judgment on the industrial accident death case from courts across the country this year.
There were 131 cases and 133 deaths.
There were 332 individuals and corporations who were brought to the trial court as defendants, but all but one received probation.
There is only one year in prison without probation, because another worker died at the same workplace a year ago.
Even though 62% of accidents resulted in death due to fines, the fine amounted to only 6.54 million won on average.
The average sentence sentenced with probation was less than 8 months.
The sentencing standard, which the court increased the level of punishment, does not apply to Kim Yong-gyun's case three years ago.
In March, the Supreme Court Sentencing Committee raised the level of punishment for industrial accident deaths from 6 months to 18 months, up to a maximum of 30 months, as this standard applies to cases prosecuted by the prosecution after July of this year.
However, the fact that the standard of sentencing has been strengthened due to increased awareness of the industrial accident death case is expected to affect the judgment of the court in Yonggyun Kim's case.
The results of the first trial, which will determine the responsibility for Kim's death, are expected to come out early next year.