Agency mourns victims, vows to prevent recurrence; 'Worker safety is the top priority'

Defense Acquisition Program Administration chief Lee Yong-cheol receives a briefing on the response situation at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant explosion site on Friday. [Yonhap]
Defense Acquisition Program Administration chief Lee Yong-cheol receives a briefing on the response situation at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant explosion site on Friday. [Yonhap]

Defense Acquisition Program Administration chief Lee Yong-cheol visited the explosion site at the Hanwha Aerospace plant in Daejeon on Friday, reviewed the response efforts, paid his respects at a joint memorial altar set up at the Yuseong-gu District Office and discussed follow-up measures.

After receiving a briefing at the scene on the status of the response and the extent of the damage, Lee said ensuring worker safety and thorough follow-through were the top priorities.

He also called for close coordination with relevant agencies to determine the cause of the accident and for strengthened safety management across the defense industry.

At the memorial altar, Lee expressed his deepest condolences to the victims and their families, saying "no value can take precedence over the safety of workers." He said he felt a heavy sense of responsibility over the accident and pledged to take thorough measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring. Lee then chaired a response meeting at the agency's Daejeon office, where officials discussed launching a joint safety inspection and drawing up measures to prevent a recurrence.

The agency has activated a "Safety Accident Response Task Force" to oversee the overall response and follow-up to the incident. It plans to call on specialists from the Agency for Defense Development and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality as needed to support the investigation into the cause.

The explosion at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon plant on Monday — the third such incident at the facility, following blasts in 2018 and 2019 — left seven workers dead or injured, the first such accident there in seven years.

President Lee Jae Myung said at a Cabinet meeting that it was "a serious problem" for the same type of accident to recur repeatedly at the same workplace.


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