South Korea jails CEO of battery maker for 15 years over deadly fire

The chief executive of a South Korean lithium battery maker where 23 workers were killed in a fire last year was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday in the toughest ruling over an industrial accident in the country.

SEOUL, South Korea — The chief executive of a South Korean lithium battery maker where 23 workers were killed in a fire last year was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday in the toughest ruling over an industrial accident in the country.

Park Soon-kwan, CEO of the battery maker Aricell, had been charged under the country’s industrial safety law, which subjects senior executives to prison terms of more than one year when found guilty in the event of fatal accidents.

Park’s son, who is a senior company executive, was also sentenced to 15 years in prison, a public affairs judge at the Suwon District Court said by telephone.

Park, the chief executive, failed to ensure safety measures were in place and that the fire was “not an unpredictable” accident under the conditions the company was operating in, the judge cited the court’s ruling as saying.

Lawyers for the Parks could not be immediately reached for comment.