South Korea zinc firm Young Poong's CEO arrested over probe into safety lapses (updated)

YoungPoong

29/08/2024 10:36

(Adds context)
    By Joyce Lee and Julian Luk
       SEOUL/ LONDON Aug 29 (Reuters) - The CEO of South
Korea's Young Poong Corp  000670.KS  has been arrested, the
company said on Thursday, as prosecutors investigated his
liability over safety-related deaths at the company's Seokpo
zinc smelter. 
    A South Korean court approved early Thursday an arrest
warrant for CEO Park Young Min after prosecutors alleged he
violated a South Korean law that holds employers criminally
liable for serious industrial accidents.    
    Young Poong said Park's arrest caused no major disruption to
management or production.
    It had already cut production at Seokpo, the world's
sixth-largest zinc smelter since March, Reuters reported.
    Park has yet to be formally charged. The Daegu District
Court's Andong Branch said it approved the warrant for Park due
to flight risk and potential destruction of evidence. 
    He has denied some of the allegations, local media said. A
spokesperson for Park could not be reached. 
    Three deadly incidents including gas exposure and heatstroke
have occurred at the Seokpo smelter in the last nine months,
killing three people and injuring three, Yonhap news agency
reported, citing prosecutors. 
    The zinc market is closely watching the fate of the 400,000
metric ton-per-year Seokpo smelter.
    Young Poong is in the process of appealing against an
earlier decision by regional authorities to close the plant for
two months for alleged environmental violations, according to
the company's August regulatory filing. 
    Big production cuts or a complete shutdown of Seokpo could
tip the market into deficit- as zinc surplus for 2024 has
narrowed to only 19,000 tons, a July poll by Reuters showed.
 COMMODITYPOLL21  
    That compares to a 300,000 tons surplus forecasted at the
beginning of the year. Shortage of zinc concentrates, crushed
ores used in making zinc, pressured smelters to cut production. 
        
  

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee
Editing by Ros Russell and Miral Fahmy)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))