Data obtained by Rep. Kim Ki-hyun from Ministry of Employment and Labor

Self-initiated criminal cases by industrial safety inspectors down 47.1%

Self-initiated case ratio fell to 39.7% last year

Lawmaker says tax money being spent on 'passive' enforcement

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun [provided by Rep. Kim Ki-hyun's office]
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun [provided by Rep. Kim Ki-hyun's office]

Even as the government pushes to significantly expand its industrial safety inspection workforce to prevent serious workplace accidents, the number of cases that inspectors have independently identified and referred for prosecution has declined sharply in recent years.

According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of criminal cases that inspectors initiated on their own — by directly identifying violations at worksites — fell from 2,310 in 2022 to 1,577 in 2023, 1,716 in 2024 and 1,221 in 2025, a 47.1 percent drop over three years. Through July this year, inspectors had recorded 1,044 such cases.

The number of cases referred to prosecutors after inspectors established criminal charges also declined steadily — from 2,298 in 2022 to 1,557 in 2023, 1,472 in 2024 and 1,164 in 2025. Through July this year, the figure stood at 487.

The share of self-initiated cases that ultimately resulted in a prosecutorial referral was 99.5 percent in 2022. It slipped to 85.8 percent in 2024 and recovered somewhat to 95.3 percent in 2025, but as of July this year had fallen below half, to 46.6 percent.

By contrast, the number of complaints and reports filed by workers at job sites remained relatively stable — 3,170 in 2022, 2,678 in 2023, 3,056 in 2024 and 3,074 in 2025. Through July this year, 2,717 reports had been received.

The ratio of self-initiated criminal cases to total complaints filed also fell, dropping from 72.9 percent in 2022 to 58.9 percent in 2023 and 39.7 percent in 2025, and standing at 38.4 percent as of July this year. Critics say the figures suggest inspectors have shifted toward reactively processing incoming complaints rather than proactively uncovering violations through planned or routine inspections.

The enforcement record looks even weaker against the backdrop of persistently high serious workplace accident rates. Inspectors opened more than 500 major industrial accident cases annually — 563 in 2024 and 532 in 2025. Yet over the past five years, courts issued arrest warrants in only six cases in total: two in 2024, three in 2025 and one through June this year. Search and seizure warrants were issued at a rate of only about 10 to 30 per year.

"The government is planning to pour tax money into a large-scale expansion of the inspector workforce, but the current inspector organization has stagnated into passively handling incoming complaints, with investigative capacity and on-site enforcement effectiveness hitting rock bottom," Kim said. "Rather than simply inflating the organization by adding numbers, the government must stop the expansion and instead draw up effective measures that genuinely improve worksite safety — through stronger planned and ad hoc inspections and a thorough rebuilding of personnel capabilities."


mp1256@heraldcorp.com