Release date: 2016-05-10
Five years ago, more than 100 Koreans died from inhalation of fungicides in humidifiers, causing unexplained lung disease. Most of them were pregnant and infants, causing panic...
Five years later, the South Korean prosecutors re-investigated this major public security incident. The relevant companies have apologized to the public and proposed compensation plans. However, people from all walks of life still insist on strict accountability and tracing in the end... What is this? Did the scene alarm a major security case in South Korea? Why is the late apology unable to erase the deep pain of the Korean people?
Humidifier "killing" beginning and end: the fungicide
In 2011, a patient hospitalized in a hospital in Seoul was suspected of successive deaths due to pulmonary fibrosis symptoms. These patients have the same cause of death: acute lung disease of unknown origin. Because the deceased are all pregnant women, it has brought tremendous impact to Korean society.
As the investigation deepened, investigators found that infants and mothers died before 2011 for the same reason. Unexplained deaths continue to occur, causing public panic in Korean society.
The Department of Disease Management of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea launched a large-scale epidemiological investigation, but ruled out the possibility of a pandemic. In the subsequent investigations and experiments, it was initially determined that “humidifier biocide†is the culprit causing maternal and other unexplained lung diseases.
At that time, the investigation found that about 70% of the deceased had used the company's fungicides. In recent years, patients have used humidifiers for an average of 4 months per year. Each time water is added, fungicides are added, and an average of one bottle of fungicide is used every month.
In 2011, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a press conference and said that the animal inhalation toxicity test and expert research results of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Diseases confirmed the harmfulness of the humidifier.
The Department of Disease Management further stated that the toxicity test found that some of the fungicides did have the same properties as the above pathological investigations, and some products could cause lung cell damage under certain conditions. However, the causal relationship between fungicides and lung damage has not been fully confirmed, and pathological and hazard investigations will continue in the future to further study the causal relationship between the two.
Yonhap News reported that as of now, the government officially counted the total number of deaths due to humidifier fungicides was 239. According to data from the Korea Environmental Health and Citizens Center, the total number of victims has reached 1,528.
Apologize for "late"
According to the relevant provisions of the Korean Basic Law on Product Safety, the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2011 has required relevant companies to recycle a total of six models of humidifier biocide products within one month.
In 2012, the families of the victims brought the relevant enterprises to court, but the prosecution decided to “end the time limit for prosecution†on the grounds that it was difficult to confirm the causal relationship. The move also caused the incident to fall into the fog of the victim who could not find the injurer.
Since then, the families of the victims have continued to insist on re-investigation.
In October 2015, the prosecution finally decided to investigate and deal with related companies. Since January this year, the prosecution has increased its investigation of the case and successively summoned relevant personnel in April to make major breakthroughs.
In the face of the prosecution action, the two companies that produced and sold the humidifier biocide, Lotte Mart and Home Plus, responded quickly and held a press conference on April 18 to announce the apology and compensation plan.
On April 21st, Korea’s Li Jieshi Company also issued an apology statement through the media, saying that it will take out another 5 billion won in addition to the 5 billion won in the past.
Previously, South Korean Li Jieshi, which was considered by the Korean media to "cause the most deaths", not only did not formally apologize to the public, but also kept silent on the incident and avoided the Korean media. Coupled with the suspicion of forgery, concealment and destruction of documents related to the investigation of the harmfulness of the humidifier biocide, Li Jieshi is deeply mired in the criticism of Korean public opinion.
Government response
According to Korean media reports, many civic groups, including the families of the victims, did not appreciate the apology of the late arrival of the enterprises involved. Many people in South Korea are also launching online campaigns to boycott related enterprise products.
Many South Korean netizens believe that the companies involved in the investigation of the prosecution have collectively apologized, apparently lacking sincerity, and the specific statement of the apology statement is also suspected of evading responsibility.
At the same time, the South Korean government’s slow response to this incident has also been criticized in the past five years. Some netizens said, "The problem of humidifier fungicides that broke out five years ago has only been investigated by the relevant authorities to date. It is really "after the event."
On the issue of the harmfulness of the humidifier biocide, some people in the Korean legal profession once said to the media that "the country that has a problem is also responsible."
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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