After Promise of Automation Following 8 Deaths, Hanwha Daejeon Plant Faces Another Serial Explosion Tragedy

Nightmare Repeated: 8 Dead in 2018 and 2019 Explosions
Company's Apology and Investment Fall Short of Preventing Further Tragedy

Another major explosion occurred at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon plant, resulting in 7 workers being killed or injured. Despite the company's promise to implement safety measures after two consecutive explosions in 2018 and 2019 that claimed a total of 8 lives, the company failed once again to prevent a tragedy after seven years. As a result, criticism of the inadequate safety management system is expected to intensify.

At around 10:59 a.m. on the 1st, an explosion occurred at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon Plant in Oesam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, resulting in five deaths and two injuries. Photo by Yonhap News.

At approximately 10:59 a.m. on June 1, a powerful explosion and fire broke out in the washing chamber at Hanwha Aerospace's Daejeon facility in Oesam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon. Although firefighters extinguished the blaze in 2 hours and 8 minutes, five workers who had been washing explosives with water and detergent at the scene were killed, and two others suffered severe burns over their entire bodies.

This is not the first time an explosion has occurred at Hanwha's Daejeon plant. In May 2018, an explosion during solid fuel charging killed five people, and in February of the following year, another explosion during fuel separation operations claimed three more lives. At that time, company officials were convicted of occupational negligence resulting in death. After the 2019 accident, the company issued an official apology, stating it would identify the root causes and improvement measures, and invested in process automation. However, this latest incident once again exposed the limitations of the company's disaster prevention system.

Immediately after the accident, Hanwha explained, "This cleaning process used a large amount of water, so we did not consider it highly dangerous," which fueled further controversy. In response, union leader Heo Rok argued, "There is no such thing as a less dangerous process at any defense industry facility where workers are present." Experts also pointed out that the propulsion system development process is extremely sensitive, to the point where even a small static electricity discharge can cause an explosion.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that the building where the explosion occurred had been excluded from the fire safety inspection list by the fire authorities due to its small size, highlighting loopholes in legal regulations. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions issued a statement emphasizing, "Since similar explosions have repeatedly occurred at the same facility, a thorough inspection of the entire safety management system and accountability are unavoidable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.