20-Year Sentence Demanded for AriCell CEO After Deadly Factory Fire: What You Need to Know

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Prosecutors asked an appellate court to sentence Arisel CEO Park Soon-gwan to 20 years in prison for the Hwaseong factory fire that killed 23 workers.

On the 27th, Suwon High Court’s Criminal Division 1 held the appellate sentencing hearing in Park Soon-gwan’s appeal on charges that include violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

Prosecutors urged the court to reject the defendants’ appeals, overturn the lower court’s decision, and impose the same sentence the prosecution requested at the original trial.

Prosecutors argued the evidence showed numerous warning signs that made the accident foreseeable. They said that if the defendants had not ignored those signs and had prioritized workers’ safety, the victims would not have been exposed to this risk. The prosecution added that the defendants’ conduct warrants condemnation and that strict enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act is necessary to deter similar incidents.

Prosecutors also noted that, barely two years later, another blaze at an auto-parts plant in Daejeon left 74 people dead or injured.

In September of last year, a district court sentenced Park to 15 years — the heaviest sentence imposed in cases prosecuted under the Serious Accident Punishment Act since it took effect in 2022.

Prosecutors recommended the same sentence on appeal for Park Jung-eon, Arisel’s head of operations: 15 years in prison and a fine of 1,000,000 KRW (about $750). He faces charges including violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and causing death and injury by professional negligence.

For six other Arisel executives and employees charged with violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and causing death and injury by professional negligence, prosecutors sought penalties including three-year prison terms, custodial sentences ranging from 1 year and 6 months to 3 years, and fines of 10,000,000 KRW (about $7,500).

Park was arrested and formally charged on Sept. 24, 2024, in connection with the June 24 fire at Arisel’s Hwaseong factory in Seosin-myeon, which killed 23 workers and injured eight.

He is charged with failing to inspect hazardous risk factors and failing to prepare manuals to respond to major accidents — violations of obligations to ensure workplace safety and health.

Investigators found that Arisel altered the facility layout for production convenience by tearing down fire-compartment walls and installing partition walls in evacuation routes.

They also found the company installed a lock on an exit behind a partition that only full-time employees could use, a change investigators say increased harm to foreign workers.