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Officials from the Seoul Metropolitan Government conduct an inspection at the accident site on the Seosomun Overpass in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. / Yonhap News Agency.

Despite a series of serious industrial accidents across various workplaces, critics say the causes and responsibilities have not been clearly identified. To strengthen investigative expertise in this area, police will set up an advisory panel of around 70 experts across seven fields—including construction and chemistry—within this month. The panel will examine not only accident causes but also illegal factors such as unlawful subcontracting and fair‑trade violations that may contribute to accidents.

According to the National Police Agency on June 11, dedicated investigative teams for serious industrial accidents are currently operating at each provincial police agency. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has two teams, while Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, and Sejong each have one. Gyeonggi South and Gyeonggi North have two teams each, and Gangwon, North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, North Jeolla, South Jeolla, North Gyeongsang, South Gyeongsang, and Jeju each have one.

Unlike ordinary criminal cases, serious accident investigations require high levels of expertise from the initial on‑site inspection stage. The knowledge needed varies depending on whether the accident involves collapse, explosion, electrocution, or entrapment, and early judgments can determine the direction of the investigation and scope of responsibility. Police concluded that operating dedicated teams alone was insufficient to quickly resolve technical issues, and decided to involve external experts from the outset.

The advisory panel will consist of specialists in industrial safety—covering construction, civil engineering, chemistry, electricity, and machinery—and in structural illegality, including labor and fair trade.

Police plan to investigate not only direct causes but also indirect illegal factors such as unlawful subcontracting. If systemic problems are uncovered during investigations, they will request improvements from relevant ministries to prevent recurrence.

The police are also expanding recruitment standards for experienced investigators in this field, increasing the quota from ten sergeants to thirty inspectors. Recruits will be required to serve for five years in accident investigation teams or related departments. Currently, 42 experienced officers are assigned to this area.

Training programs are being expanded as well. The police have introduced two annual training sessions commissioned by the Ministry of Employment and Labor for accident investigation teams. At the Police Investigation Training Institute, the number of courses on serious accident investigations has doubled from two to four per year. Each one‑week course trains about 30 officers.

A senior official at the National Police Agency said, “To thoroughly identify the causes and responsibilities of serious accidents, cooperation with external experts is as important as strengthening our own investigative capacity through training and recruitment. We will examine indirect illegal factors such as unlawful subcontracting and request institutional improvements to achieve fundamental accident prevention.”

                                                                                                            Seol So‑young