Securing Non-Guilty Verdict in the Serious Accident Punishment Act Case No. 1 – Sampyo Industry Case

The collapse accident at the Sampyo Industry quarry occurred just two days after the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act (enforced on January 27, 2022) and drew significant attention as the “first case” under the Act. The case has been handled by Lee & Ko, which was involved from immediately after the accident and conducted both the investigation stage and the first-instance trial. The accident occurred on January 29, 2022, when three workers were carrying out aggregate extraction work using two drilling machines and one excavator, and the soil collapsed, burying the workers and resulting in their deaths.

In connection with this accident, the prosecution indicted the Chairman of the Sampyo Group for violation of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the Chief Executive Officer for violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and occupational negligence resulting in death, and the CSO for occupational negligence resulting in death, among other charges.

In response, Lee & Ko demonstrated that the Group Chairman, who is not the CEO, does not qualify as a “responsible management personnel” under the Serious Accident Punishment Act, and that the CEO, the CSO, and others did not commit any violations, such as directing that work involving safety hazards be performed, or leaving work to proceed while knowing that it was being carried out without safety measures in place. As a result, the Group Chairman, the CEO, and the CSO were all acquitted.

This case has attracted media attention regarding whether, following the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, a group chairman can be held criminally liable as a responsible manager for an industrial accident at an individual affiliate company. The court made clear that a person does not bear criminal liability under the Serious Accident Punishment Act merely because they sit at the top of a company’s or group’s governance structure, and that such responsibility is, in principle, borne by the corporation’s CEO. This constitutes an important judicial determination that helps dispel concerns that, in the case of group companies, the Serious Accident Punishment Act could expose the group chairman to criminal punishment.