Photo : YONHAP News
The prosecution has appealed the four-year prison sentence handed down recently to the chief executive of lithium battery maker Aricell, regarding the fire at the company’s plant that claimed 23 lives in 2024.
The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said Tuesday that it filed the appeal because of a legal error involving a misinterpretation of the law, taking issue with the Suwon High Court’s decision last Wednesday to reduce Aricell CEO Park Soon-kwan’s sentence to just four years in prison.
Previously, in September last year the Suwon District Court handed the CEO a 15-year sentence for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Park was indicted in September 2024 over allegations that he failed to conduct inspections for hazardous risk factors and prepare emergency response manuals in connection with a fire at the Aricell factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, which killed 23 workers and injured eight others on June 24, 2024.