The labor movement selected HJ Heavy Industries as the company with the most industrial accident deaths over the past year.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Workers Health Solidarity, Daily Labor News, and others announced that they held the ‘2026 Worst Killer Company Selection Ceremony’ in front of Sejong Center in Jongno District, Seoul, on the 21st, and chose HJ Heavy Industries as this year as the worst killer company.

HJ Heavy Industries is a comprehensive heavy industry company with shipbuilding and construction as its two pillars, and in 2022 it changed its name from Hanjin Heavy Industries to HJ Heavy Industries.

At HJ Heavy Industries, a total of eight workers died from industrial accidents last year. Of these, seven died in November last year in a collapse during boiler tower dismantling at the Ulsan Thermal Power Plant of Korea East-West Power, and one died after a fall in December the same year at the Busan Opera House construction site. All eight of the deceased were subcontracted workers.

In second place, Hyundai Engineering and Samjeong Enterprise were jointly selected, with six worker deaths at each. The KCTU stated, “Hyundai Engineering caused three serious accidents last year, resulting in six worker deaths, and Samjeong Enterprise caused the deaths of six workers at the construction site for a new Banyan Tree in Busan,” explaining the reason for the selection.

They too were all subcontracted workers, and among the 25 industrial accident deaths that occurred at the top four companies, 23 were counted as subcontracted workers. A similar pattern appears in the overall industrial accident statistics. Of the 605 deaths subject to accident investigation last year, 47% were subcontracted workers, and 60% of the incidents occurred at workplaces with fewer than 50 employees.

The KCTU pointed out, “The structure in which hazardous work is concentrated on subcontracted workers is the core cause of repeated industrial accident deaths,” adding, “It has once again been revealed that large corporations remain preoccupied solely with profit-seeking through multi-tier subcontracting structures, while turning a blind eye to on-site safety and workers lives.”

In the ‘Worst Killer Company chosen by citizens’ category, SPC and Coupang were jointly selected. In a vote joined by 8,856 people, SPC received 4,200 votes (47.4%) and Coupang received 3,763 votes (42.5%).

For the ‘Worst Ruling Award’, the Uijeongbu District Court, which acquitted Jeong Do-won, chairman of Sampyo Group, in the Yangju quarry collapse case that was the first case under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, was selected. They said it was a “ruling that undermined the purpose of the law to strengthen management responsibility,” and that “the judiciary is failing to properly hold those responsible for serious accidents to account.”

The KCTU stated, “Every year we highlight the gravity of deaths from industrial accidents and call corporations to account, yet workers are still dying,” adding, “Killer companies must be punished severely.”

Since 2006, the organizers have annually selected and announced the ‘Worst Killer Company’, naming the company where the most industrial accident deaths occurred.