On November 2025 at 2PM, a 63-meter-tall boiler tower collapsed in the Korea East-West Power facility in Nam-gu, Ulsan. The tower collapsed during a scheduled demolition. This resulted in a large scale disaster in which, seven of nine workers near the accident scene were killed. One of the victims died after being buried under rubble for several hours following the collapse.



An investigation is ongoing into possible violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The investigation is being led by Younghoon Kim, Minister of Employment and Labor. The demolition work was conducted by Korea Kacoh, a professional blasting company. Korea Kacoh was employed as a subcontractor by HJ Shipbuilding & Construction, which was contracted by Korea East-West Power to oversee the demolition.



Regarding this accident, President Lee Jaemyung stated on Facebook, “The administration will strengthen safety management and investigate the cause of the accident thoroughly, including whether excessive work was carried out due to a shortened construction period.” In addition, he said authorities would punish those responsible for the accident regardless of rank or position.



The Ulsan boiler tower collapse is not the only recent workplace disaster in Korea. Other recent accidents include those at POSCO E&C and the Donghae Coal-Fired Power Plant. Both occurred under the Lee government, which emphasizes strengthening prevention of occupational disasters.



One of the administration’s strategies to prevent occupational disasters is to increase the number of safety officials by about 2,000 until 2026. Furthermore, the administration is advocating for strict punishment for those responsible for industrial accidents. In response to the recent rise in accidents, legislation is also being pursued that would impose a fine of up to 5% of operating profit on business owners if three or more deaths occur within a single year.



Regarding the recent accident at the Ulsan power plant, Professor Jinwoo Jung of the Department of Safety Engineering at SeoulTech expressed his views. Professor Jung criticized the perspective that attributes the primary cause of subcontractor accidents to the “outsourcing of danger.” He said that outsourcing work itself is not inherently dangerous. The problem stems from current contracting laws, in which duties and responsibilities remain unclear.



In his book, Occupational Safety and Health Act (6th edition), Professor Jung points out significant flaws in Korea’s current occupational safety and health management system. According to him, the government focuses on easy, punitive measures rather than safety management based on identifying the root causes of accidents. He went on to state that the number of safety officials in Korea is ten times higher than that of United States, which is beyond excessive. The actual effectiveness is reduced to an emphasis on paperwork oriented safety management and the strengthening of penalties. This results in a “high-cost, low-efficiency” situation.



The recent accident at the Ulsan power plant highlights many fundamental issues within Korea’s current safety management system. Although it may be too early to evaluate the effectiveness of the current government’s occupational safety and health management, cooperation among the government, the corporate sector, and academia appears to be necessary to prevent future accidents.



Reporters



Jaeho Lim

limjaeho4119@seoultech.ac.kr



Jinpyo Hong

undohere@seoultech.ac.kr