[비즈한국] On the 15th, the police and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety conducted a joint inspection of the overall food manufacturing processes at the SPC Siheung plant. The inspection was aimed at verifying the presence of harmful substances in food-grade lubricants near the machinery where a fatal entrapment accident involving a female worker in her 50s occurred last May. Six officials from the Siheung Police Station and the Ministry spent over two hours inspecting the factory, covering everything from hygiene management in the baking process to overall compliance with the Food Sanitation Act.
Ten days later, on the 25th, President Lee Jae-myung personally visited the Siheung plant and questioned the SPC side 34 times. He did not hesitate to press them with questions such as, “Why do you use 12-hour, 2-shift rotations instead of 8-hour, 3-shift rotations? Is it true that the worker crawled in and died?” and even admonished them, saying, “If you don’t know, just admit you don’t know instead of acting like you do,” when he did not receive satisfactory answers.
SPC Unveils Massive Measures After President’s Visit
President Lee focused his questioning on Kim Beom-soo, CEO of SPC Samlip004700, who acted as the primary presenter, regarding the circumstances of the fatal accident last May and measures to prevent recurrence. He particularly pointed out the 3-team, 2-shift work system. He noted that workers must be “sleepy at night” and remarked on the recurring nature of such accidents, stating, “The same situation is repeating itself for the second and third time. It is questionable whether working 12 hours straight from 7 PM to 7 AM for four days is humanly possible.” He also reprimanded SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in, who was present, asking, “Is it that you cannot implement an 8-hour, 3-shift system because the total wages are so low that no one would work if you only had them work eight hours?”
SPC Group released countermeasures immediately after the President's visit. Two days later, on the 27th, the company announced, “We plan to completely overhaul our production structure, including expanding our workforce, adjusting production items and volumes, and reorganizing lines to eliminate overtime beyond eight hours,” adding that they “plan to prepare implementation plans for each affiliate and enforce them fully starting October 1st.” To this end, they announced an investment of 62.4 billion KRW in safety equipment and automation, and over 200 billion KRW for the construction of a new factory. Furthermore, the plan includes minimizing night production for non-essential items and reducing factory operating hours. They also stated that they would gradually reduce daytime working hours to prevent cumulative fatigue, decreased concentration, and the risk of accidents caused by long work hours.
Will the Sluggish Investigation Change?
It is extremely unusual for a president to personally visit an individual company where an industrial accident has occurred to oversee the matter. Consequently, attention is focused on how investigative authorities will handle the SPC Group case. Typically, when a president takes action to address issues at a specific company, investigative authorities—including the police, prosecution, and the Fair Trade Commission—begin a comprehensive review of that company’s overall problems.
In particular, similar entrapment accidents have continued to occur at SPC Group factories for the past three years. In mid-May, a female worker in her 50s at the Siheung plant died after her upper body became trapped in a machine while she was putting her body into a conveyor belt to spray lubricant to cool down hot bread. In October 2022, a female worker in her 20s died at the SPL Pyeongtaek bakery plant, an SPC affiliate, when her apron was pulled into a sauce mixer while she was working. In August 2023, another female worker in her 50s died after being trapped in a machine at the SPC Shany Seongnam bakery plant. It is known that between 2022 and 2025, there were 6 deaths from industrial accidents at SPC-affiliated factories, and there have been approximately 1,000 industrial accident claims filed at major SPC affiliates over the past five years.
Civic groups have already filed criminal complaints against SPC Group Chairman Hur Young-in and others. In May, the People’s Livelihood Countermeasure Committee filed a complaint against Chairman Hur with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on charges including violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. However, even in the 2022 accident, only Kang Dong-seok, the former CEO of SPL, was sentenced to one year in prison suspended for two years in the first trial; no one at the group level, including Chairman Hur, has been held legally accountable. Regarding the accident that occurred in August 2023, the Seongnam branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor has been investigating it for 1 year and 11 months for alleged violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
Reaction from the Presidential Office?
On the 28th, the day after SPC's reform measures were released, the Presidential Office gave a positive evaluation, stating that “SPC Group responded with change.” Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong stated, “Two days after the President expressed his wishes and urged that we become a society that values life and fully absorbs the costs for safety, while repeatedly asking if it is possible to work 12 hours a day, four days a week, from 7 PM to 7 AM, SPC Group has responded with change.” Spokesperson Kang added, “(The President’s) actions are a way of spreading a message that values life and safety, not a definitive declaration where a line is drawn and a penalty is automatically applied if that line is crossed.”
In the legal community, many do not expect the investigative authorities to launch a massive, full-scale investigation into SPC Group, nor do they expect it to lead to prosecution and indictment, as was the case with the Korean Air “nut rage” incident. The prevailing view is that instead of a sweeping investigation, each regulatory authority will handle the problematic areas according to principle.
A partner attorney at a large law firm noted, “All large law firms are watching closely to see how far the authorities will go against companies specifically targeted by the Presidential Office since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration.” He hinted, “We have to advise companies on how to strategize for risk management, and especially with a progressive government in power, companies are very concerned about industrial accident issues. In that sense, SPC seems likely to become an important reference case.”