A recent judgment by the Changwon District Court in Korea (Case No. 2025Godan1381) highlights the increasing potential for criminal liability of CEOs and executives in Korea under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of Korea (OSHA) and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act of Korea (SAPA).
On August 29, 2025, a Korean court sentenced the CEO of a painting company to one year in prison, suspended for two years, after a 46-year-old foreign worker fell to his death while repainting an apartment roof in Gimhae City, Korea. The company was also fined KR₩10 million under Korea’s dual-punishment provision, which allows courts in Korea to penalize both corporate entities and responsible executives simultaneously.
Key Facts
- Company B was contracted by an apartment building to perform exterior and interior repainting, as well as crack repairs.
- On September 20, 2023, the worker was instructed to paint the roof of an apartment that was approximately 45 meters above ground. Although wearing a safety harness, he failed to attach it to a fixed anchoring device while moving a container of paint and subsequently fell to his death.
- The Korean court held that the CEO failed to ensure the installation of proper fall-protection equipment, thereby breaching the employer’s statutory duty of care under Article 23 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of Korea.
- The court, in short, found that the CEO failed to enforce safety measures by neglecting to provide sufficient harness attachment points, and thereby committed professional negligence resulting in death. Notably, the CEO had a prior safety-violation conviction in 2001.
- The court considered the settlement reached with the victim’s family as a mitigating factor and sentenced the CEO to a suspended jail sentence (thus, no jail time served). In many cases, if the CEO is a foreigner, the person may be deported from Korea and would not be able to re-enter Korea for a period of time or sometimes indefinitely.
Expanded Criminal and Civil Culpability under Korean Law
This case is part of a broader trend in Korea toward personal accountability, nearing strict liability of CEOs and senior executives for workplace accidents in Korea. Recent amendments to the OSHA and the enactment of the Korean Serious Accidents Punishment Act have established non-delegable duties on executives to ensure corporate-wide safety compliance.
Under these laws, CEOs must, at a minimum,:
- Establish and maintain comprehensive risk-management systems;
- Maintain clear written safety protocols;
- Have safety training for all managers, supervisors, and subcontractors;
- Ensure installation and maintenance of protective equipment; and
- Demonstrate active oversight and supervision of work-site safety policies.
Failure to meet these standards can result in criminal prosecution, imprisonment, substantial fines, reputational damage, deportation, entry bans, and civil liability. Korean prosecutors increasingly pursue executive-level defendants following serious industrial accidents, even when the CEO did not personally supervise the site. We advise a complete compliance audit by a law firm and the implementation of a Safety Officer System.
Conclusion
The Changwon District Court’s decision serves as a stark warning: Korean courts will hold CEOs criminally liable for safety lapses, regardless of whether the lapses were due to delegation or intent. As regulatory enforcement intensifies, foreign and domestic executives should adopt a proactive and nuanced approach to safety management.