President Lee Orders Strict Action Over Alleged Heavy-Metal Injections Disguised as "Vitamin Shots," Calls Them a "Grave Human Rights Violation"

Slams company for passing workplace environment assessment despite lead levels exceeding the limit by more than five times
Orders labor ministry and investigators to thoroughly probe injections and possible concealment of health exam results

President Lee Jaemyung on October 12, 2026, ordered strict action over allegations that workers at an automotive battery manufacturing plant were repeatedly given injections to eliminate heavy metals under the false claim that they were vitamin shots, calling the practice "a serious human rights violation that can never be tolerated." He strongly criticized the fact that the company passed a workplace environment measurement assessment through a workaround that endangered workers' health, despite lead levels detected during production exceeding five times the limit.

President Lee Jaemyung speaks at a meeting of senior secretaries and aides at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 1, 2026. Yonhap News Agency

Kang Yoo-jung, senior presidential spokesperson at Cheong Wa Dae, said at a briefing that President Lee had received a report on the Ministry of Employment and Labor's response to media reports on the matter and its plans going forward, and issued the instructions.

The controversy arose after allegations surfaced that workers at DN Automotive's Ulsan plant, which manufactures automotive batteries, had been given so-called "chelation" injections that promote the elimination of heavy metals from the body under the false claim that they were vitamin shots. The company is suspected of trying to lower workers' blood lead levels ahead of special health examinations to conceal their exposure to hazardous substances.

President Lee said it was a serious human rights violation for a company, which is responsible for protecting workers' lives and health, to give them injections while concealing the risk of side effects and to cover up their exposure to hazardous substances. He instructed the Ministry of Employment and Labor and investigative agencies to "thoroughly investigate the extent of workers' exposure to hazardous substances at the workplace, the circumstances surrounding the injections, and whether health examination results were concealed, and to take strict legal action if any violations are found."

The Ministry of Employment and Labor previously conducted an inspection of the workplace, identified 68 violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, opened cases and referred them to prosecutors. It also imposed fines totaling 46.2 million won. The ministry has asked police to investigate the administration of heavy-metal-eliminating injections immediately before health examinations on suspicion of obstruction of business.

President Lee instructed officials to "carefully examine the possibility of similar cases undermining the occupational safety and health system at other workplaces in light of this incident," and urged them to "make every effort to protect workers' health and human rights."

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