CEO of South Korea’s lithium battery manufacturer arrested in connection with factory fire

Seoul: A local court informed AFP on Thursday that the CEO of a South Korean lithium battery manufacturer has been detained in connection with a factory fire that claimed 23 lives in June.

The CEO of Aricell, Park Soon-kwan, was taken into custody late on Wednesday in connection with the fatal event, according to a Suwon District Court spokesman.

Park’s detention marks the first time a CEO has been detained for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, a statute put into effect in 2022 to punish companies responsible for workplace accidents, according to Seoul’s labor ministry.

Park was detained on “charges of causing the deaths of 23 people by employing unskilled contract workers to handle materials with a high fire risk,” the ministry said in a statement.

Police have also previously said that the fatal fire was caused by the company’s “gross” safety violations.

Police claim that the fire was started by a hasty decision to fulfill a supply deadline and a disregard for warning signs of potentially harmful quality flaws in the batteries.

They alleged that Aricell had been lying on quality checks since 2021 and had also falsified data to satisfy its military procurement requirements.

One of the greatest manufacturing catastrophes to hit South Korea in recent memory was the fire.