A Safety Device Forged Over 17 Years of Determination: Acontec CEO Ra Woongjae Receives Presidential Citation

The Journey to Localize Arc Breakers Began in 2016, Culminating in a Presidential Citation
Nation's First Technology to Tackle Electrical Fires Wins the "2026 Electrical Safety Awards" Honor

Ra Woongjae, CEO of Arcontec, is receiving the Presidential Citation from Ho Hyun Lee, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment.
(Photo by Arcontec)

Ra Woongjae, CEO of Acontec, received the Presidential Citation at the "29th Korea Electrical Safety Awards 2026," which was hosted by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and organized by the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation on September 8. He was recognized for his achievement in independently developing the nation’s first arc breaker, thereby eliminating blind spots in electrical fire safety. This award is the largest annual event in the electrical safety field since 1995, honoring individuals and companies that have contributed to the dissemination of electrical safety culture and the prevention of accidents.

CEO Ra Woongjae shared his motivation for the development, explaining that he had witnessed multiple accidents in which a single electrical spark led to the loss of homes and lives. He emphasized, "If an arc breaker can save even a single life, there is nothing more valuable."

The main cause of major electrical fires—including the Coupang logistics center fire, Bucheon hotel fire, and E-Land logistics center fire—was mostly electrical arcs (sparks). Arcs can occur anywhere electricity flows, such as outlets, power strips, wires, and electrical appliances, but existing earth leakage breakers could not detect them, leaving safety blind spots. The installation of arc breakers is already mandatory in countries like the United States and Canada. To raise the standards of Korea’s electrical safety infrastructure, CEO Ra developed the product with in-house technology. For this achievement, he obtained the First Penguin-type Startup certification from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, acknowledging that Acontec pioneered this market.

Acontec’s arc breaker was developed entirely with domestic technology and won the IR52 Jang Young-Shil Award in 2025. This device detects earth leakage, overload, and arc simultaneously to shut off the power, and its malfunction prevention algorithm distinguishes between normal and dangerous signals. Designed in an ultra-compact size compatible with existing earth leakage breakers, it enables one-to-one replacement without separate construction, using just a screwdriver. It became the first arc breaker to obtain five national certifications: New Excellent Product (NEP), Excellent Government Procurement Product, Innovative Government Procurement Product, Disaster Safety Product, and EPC Performance Certification. As a result, the device is being adopted not only in key national infrastructure such as railways, aviation, ports, and power plants, but also in traditional markets, factories, offices, logistics warehouses, schools, daycare centers, elderly care facilities, hospitals, apartments, hotels, and more.

Given the rapid increase in electricity consumption, from highly developed industrial facilities to densely populated urban residential areas, the spread of such advanced technology is expected to elevate the nation’s overall disaster response capabilities to a higher level.

This technological advancement has also led to institutional achievements. CEO Ra has contributed to the recommendation of arc breakers in the KS installation standards starting in 2016, their inclusion in the National Fire Agency's performance-based design evaluation and operation guidelines in 2021, the creation of a government procurement classification number, and various related ordinance and standards revisions. As a result of these ongoing efforts, in December 2025, a Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment notice will make the installation of arc breakers mandatory in logistics warehouses, traditional markets, and commercial complexes. He expressed his hope that, with this Presidential Citation, the importance of arc breakers will become more widely recognized and the remaining blind spots in electrical safety will be eliminated.

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