The National Assembly‘s legislation subcommittee on Thursday passed the controversial bill on punishing owners of businesses in cases of workplace disasters. The bill will be voted on at the plenary session on Friday to be enacted.

The legislation, spearheaded by the progressive minor Justice Party, aims to curb recurring deaths of workers by upping criminal punishment for business owners and CEOs if they are found to have neglected safety measures.

The bill, heavily protested by business circles, underwent several adjustments such as an exemption for entities with fewer than five employees before passing the Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee responsible for reviewing drafts.

The final version invited criticisms from both ends of the spectrum. 

Businesses decried the advancement of the “highly political” bill “perilous to all businesses,” while labor circles condemned the last-minute changes to the stipulations that they said “undermine” the purpose.

The Korea Enterprises Federation said the bill “only reflects political needs while ignoring requests by the businesses.” An association of 14 groups representing small and midsized businesses said the law was ”merciless.“

The Justice Party, for its part, said the diluted bill will end up toothless. 

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)