Seoul: South Korea’s new President, Lee Jae-Myung, has initiated one of the most aggressive workplace-safety crackdowns in the country’s history an agenda shaped by his own painful memories as a child laborer who suffered life-altering injuries. The campaign, unveiled following a series of fatal industrial accidents, aims to dismantle what Lee calls the nation’s “workplaces of death,” where preventable tragedies continue to claim lives year after year.
As a young boy, Lee worked in glove and rubber factories where dangerous machinery crushed his arm and finger scars that shaped both his politics and leadership. Today, that past has become a driving force behind his administration’s push for sweeping reforms. South Korea’s industrial fatality rate 3.9 deaths per 100,000 workers, well above the OECD average has reinforced the urgency of his mission.
One case, emblematic of the widespread crisis, is that of Kim Yong-ho, a Hyundai Steel worker who survived a devastating 2019 accident. Believing a massive industrial press was shut down, he was crushed when it suddenly activated, leaving him permanently disabled. Kim’s experience mirrors countless others who have become casualties of lax safety systems, poor oversight, and careless subcontracting practices.
In response, the Lee administration has rolled out a multilayered safety overhaul. The 2026 budget allocates 37 trillion won (about US$27 billion) for enhanced enforcement, stringent inspection regimes, and new penalties. Companies responsible for three or more worker deaths per year could face fines up to 5% of their operating profit, in addition to criminal accountability. Protections are also being expanded for subcontracted workers often the most vulnerable to hazardous conditions.
However, while several major companies, including construction giant POSCO E&C, have swiftly suspended risky work sites and disciplined executives, experts caution that genuine reform requires more than corporate gestures. Safety specialists warn that many firms may focus on “ticking boxes” or presenting the appearance of compliance rather than investing in real change. Critics also argue that punishment alone cannot transform a decades-old industrial culture that has historically prioritized output over worker welfare.
The deeply rooted issue of subcontracting where primary firms outsource dangerous tasks to smaller, less protected operators remains one of the biggest structural obstacles. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon, himself a former railway worker and union activist, has urged a cultural shift, insisting that South Korea must abandon the long-held notion that some deaths are an unavoidable cost of economic progress.
Recent tragedies have intensified public scrutiny. Earlier this month, a collapse at a power plant demolition site in Ulsan trapped and killed nine workers, with rescuers spending more than a week retrieving bodies. Meanwhile, enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act remains inconsistent, with 86% of convicted employers in 2024 avoiding prison sentences.
For President Lee, the battle against deadly workplaces is not a political performance it is, in his own words, “a personal mission rooted in survival.” His challenge now is to turn that passion into a nationwide cultural transformation. Whether this ambitious crackdown will reshape South Korea’s industrial landscape or falter against entrenched systems remains one of the defining tests of his presidency.