Hankook Cleared of Heart Disease Charges

The South Korean Ministry of Labour has concluded that “no connection existed between multiple occurrences of heart disease and the working environment at a Hankook Tire plant in Daejeon,” according to a Korea Times report. The ministry told the presidential transition team in a briefing that though the workers at the plant “seem to have more heart disease than others,” but the relation between the alleged “deadly working environment’” could not be established. “We will do our best to improve the working environment no matter what the final report says,’” Hankook Tire spokesman Calvin Park said, welcoming the government announcement. “Workers will be provided with more specified and thorough health checks to prevent such mishaps in the future,’” he added.

However, the newspaper report adds that during the investigation, the labour ministry found the company had “violated the Industrial Safety and Health Law 1,394 times” and “tried to cover up 183 industrial accident reports.” A special investigation into the tyre manufacturer’s plant in Daejeon was made after 15 workers were reported to have died over a short period of time seven of which died of heart-related diseases in less than two years.