The main opposition party on Wednesday announced that it would push to hold a parliamentary hearing on the toxic humidifier disinfectant case and introduce a bill aimed at offering financial support for victims.

“The National Assembly should come up with its own measures to strengthen regulation on corporate misdeeds and unethical behaviors,” The Minjoo Party of Korea’s chairman Kim Chong-in said. “We urge other parties to join efforts to protect public safety,” he said.

The decision comes in light of an expanding probe by prosecutors into the manufacturers and distributors of the humidifier sterilizer allegedly responsible for over 200 deaths with its toxic ingredient PHMG.

The ruling Saenuri Party noted that it would consider the proposal. The party’s interim leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul said that, if the opposition bloc refrains from making it a political debate, he was “willing” to embrace the legislative process dealing with peoples’ everyday life.

The likelihood of finalizing the legislative process at the 19th Assembly appeared to be low as the current parliamentary session ends on May 31, but lawmakers-elect from the Minjoo Party vowed to continue their efforts in the upcoming Assembly.

“I am hoping to play a role in figuring out exactly what went wrong and finding a way to compensate the victims,” Jun Hyeon-hee, who was elected from Gangnam B district, told The Korea Herald. The former dentist was the first lawmaker to raise the health hazard of the sterilizer during the parliamentary hearing in 2011.

Meanwhile, prosecutors summoned more Oxy Reckitt Benckiser officials on Wednesday to question whether the company submitted only part of the toxicity report or covered up unfavorable results.

Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Oxy’s current researcher surnamed Cho and a wholesaler surnamed Lee as testifiers to look into the distribution process of the products.

It also summoned for the second day Oxy’s senior researcher surnamed Choi who is considered to be a key member of the team developing the product.

The prosecution has questioned former Oxy head Shin Hyun-woo, who had led the company when it decided to sell the products in 2001. Shin reportedly denied that the he had known about the toxicity of the humidifier disinfectant.

Investigators suspect that Oxy had known about the toxicity but did not conducted a safety test due to sales performance pressure, sources said.

The prosecution has reportedly obtained emails that Oxy exchanged with a German chemicals expert in 1996 over the toxicity of a similar ingredient called Preventol R-80. The company had first considered it as the main ingredient for the product. The expert reportedly regularly advised Oxy against using the chemical.

Prosecution believes that Oxy did conduct a safety test as the German expert recommended. It, however, allegedly skipped the safety test after it changed the main ingredient to PHMG. The products were on sale from October 2001.

Prosecutors are considering slapping Shin with accidental manslaughter charges.

By Lee Hyun-jeong(rene@heraldcorp.com) 
     Yeo Jun-suk      (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)