Foreign Worker Fatality: Case Handling and Implications

Bongsoo Jung (Korean labor attorney, KangNam Labor Law Firm)
I. Introduction
At approximately 3:00 p.m. on September 16, 2024, a foreign worker died in an occupational accident while operating a lathe at a small manufacturing company with about 15 employees. The worker was processing a round metal rod when his glove became caught in the machine, pulling him into a press machine, causing his body to become trapped and resulting in his immediate death. The deceased (41 years old) was a Vietnamese national who first came to Korea in 2015 on an E-9 (non-professional employment) visa. He had worked at the same workplace for ten years and held an E-7-4 skilled worker visa, which allows for long-term residence. In 2021, he divorced his wife by mutual agreement and was reportedly living in Korea with his Vietnamese girlfriend. After news of his death was reported, the deceased’s parents traveled from Vietnam to attend the funeral, and they retained a labor attorney to apply for survivors’ benefits.
On September 19, 2024, the labor attorney (the author) received a phone call from Canada. The caller stated that he had married the deceased’s former wife and was raising the deceased’s minor daughter (14 years old). He requested that the labor attorney handle all matters related to survivors’ benefits and other procedures. Accordingly, the attorney was formally delegated authority to handle the industrial-accident case by both the ex-wife—who is the legal representative of the deceased’s child, the first-priority beneficiary—and her current husband.
Throughout the handling of this industrial-accident case, multiple issues arose. First, (1) it was necessary to verify the first-priority beneficiary among the deceased’s girlfriend, parents, and minor child. Second, (2) the processes required to establish the cause of the accident and to prove the deceased’s family relations—essential for industrial-accident compensation—had to be completed. Because the deceased was a foreign national, obtaining and submitting documentation to verify these facts required considerable time. Third, (3) during the process of pursuing civil and criminal settlements, logical persuasion of the company was necessary.
In the following sections, I will explain how these issues were resolved.

II. Confirmation of Beneficiary Eligibility
1. Key Issues
The deceased divorced his spouse in Vietnam by mutual agreement in 2021. His former spouse later remarried a Canadian national and was living in Canada, raising the minor daughter (age 14) from her marriage with the deceased. Although there were rumors that the deceased had been cohabiting with a Vietnamese girlfriend in Korea, she did not claim to be in a de facto marital relationship during the industrial accident compensation application process. Meanwhile, the deceased’s parents, who were living in Vietnam, came to Korea to handle the funeral and repatriated the body to their home country.

2. Relevant Legal Basis
(1) Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (hereinafter “IACI Act”) Article 63 (Scope of Beneficiaries of Survivors’ Pension) Paragraph 3: Among eligible beneficiaries of the survivors’ pension, the order of priority for the right to receive benefits is: spouse → children → parents → grandchildren → grandparents → siblings.
(2) IACI Act, Article 64 (Loss of Eligibility and Suspension of Survivors’ Pension) Paragraph 1: A beneficiary of a survivors’ pension loses eligibility if they fall under any of the following: ①Death; ②Remarriage; (remaining items omitted)
Paragraph 2: If a beneficiary with the right to receive a survivors’ pension loses their eligibility, the right transfers to another beneficiary of the same priority if such person exists; if not, it transfers to the next priority.
(3) Criteria for Recognizing a De Facto Marital Relationship: To establish a de facto marital relationship, the parties must have (i) a subjective intent to marry, and (ii) an objective marital life that can be socially recognized as a family-like, conjugal relationship. Such marital life must involve: ① cohabitation, ② an economic community, and ③ social recognition as a couple.

3. Determination of Beneficiary Eligibility
The IACI Act applies equally to foreign workers and Korean nationals. In other words, industrial accident insurance coverage and entitlement to survivors’ benefits apply regardless of nationality, visa type, or even illegal stay.
In this case, the alleged de facto partner did not claim beneficiary status, and therefore was excluded. Meanwhile, the deceased’s parents retained a labor attorney and applied for a lump-sum survivors’ benefit. In response, this labor law office filed a survivors’ compensation claim on behalf of the deceased’s minor daughter, submitting documentation (including a family relations certificate) proving her status.
The Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service (KCOMWEL) reviewed the application and confirmed, pursuant to Article 63(3) of the IACI Act, that the order of beneficiaries is: ① spouse, ② children, ③ parents, etc. They reaffirmed that this order of priority is absolute, and a lower-priority beneficiary cannot receive benefits if a higher-priority beneficiary exists. Accordingly, KCOMWEL dismissed the parents’ application and approved the minor daughter’s survivors’ compensation claim.

III. Issues Related to Industrial Accident Processing for Foreign Nationals

1. Key Issues
When a worker dies due to a work-related cause, the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service (KCOMWEL) pays survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses. Survivors’ benefits amount to 1,300 days of the worker’s average daily wage, which may be received entirely as a pension or as a 50:50 combination of pension and lump-sum payment. However, for foreign nationals, the entire amount is paid as a lump-sum benefit.
Although applying for survivors’ benefits may seem straightforward, every aspect—including ① the work-related nature of the accident, ② verification of the deceased’s identity, and ③ proof of the beneficiary’s family relationship—must be substantiated with supporting evidence. Therefore, thorough preparation of documentation is essential. To prove the fact of death in relation to a work accident, the required documents include:
•        death certificate or postmortem inspection report,
•        autopsy report,
•        119 emergency activity log (fire department),
•        police accident confirmation,
•        medical records, etc.
To verify the deceased’s identity, documents such as a certificate of foreigner registration records and the deceased’s Alien Registration Card are required. To prove the beneficiary’s relationship with the deceased, the required documents include:
•        family relations certificates,
•        confirmation of eligibility for survivors’ benefits and funeral expenses, etc.
Additional documentation may include:
•        civil settlement agreement with the company,
•        bank account copy (with SWIFT code for foreign accounts),
•        funeral execution confirmation, and more.
In this case, because the deceased had legally divorced his spouse, it was necessary to prepare a family relations certificate clearly indicating the daughter (as the second-priority beneficiary after the spouse), as well as the divorce-related court judgment. These documents required translation and notarization, and further authentication at the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea. Preparing all of these official documents required substantial time.

2. Relevant Legal Provisions
Article 62 (Survivors’ Benefits) of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (IACI Act) ① Survivors’ benefits shall be paid to the deceased worker’s survivors if the worker dies for work-related reasons.
② Survivors’ benefits shall be paid as a survivors’ pension or survivors’ lump-sum payment (1,300 days of the average wage). However, the lump-sum payment is provided only when no person eligible for the pension exists at the time of the worker’s death.
Article 71 (Funeral Expenses) ① Funeral expenses shall be paid when a worker dies for work-related reasons, in an amount equivalent to 120 days of the average wage, paid to the family members who conducted the funeral. If no family members are available to conduct the funeral, or if unavoidable circumstances require a non-family member to do so, the actual funeral costs shall be paid within the limit of 120 days of the average wage. (For reference, the maximum funeral expense amount for 2025 is KRW 18,685,600, and the minimum amount is KRW 13,451,380.)

3. Determination of Industrial Accident Compensation Amount
When applying for survivors’ compensation and funeral expenses, KCOMWEL reviewed all required documents submitted through the authorized representative before approving payment. The agency verified: ①that the worker’s death was work-related, ②that the claimant was the first-priority beneficiary, ③that the average wage calculation used in the survivors’ benefit application was accurate, and ④that the employer had actually paid the funeral expenses.
Survivors’ benefits amount to 1,300 days of average daily wage, which in this case totaled KRW 130 million. Funeral expenses amount to 120 days of average daily wage, normally KRW 12 million. However, because this amount fell below the statutory minimum, KCOMWEL applied the minimum funeral expense amount of KRW 13,451,380. Since the employer had already prepaid KRW 11 million for the funeral, only the remaining balance was paid to the family. Accordingly, KCOMWEL transferred the full survivors’ benefit amount and the remaining funeral expense difference directly to the beneficiaries’ foreign bank account.

IV. Issues in Civil and Criminal Settlements
1. Key Issues
When a worker dies due to inadequate safety measures or other negligence on the part of the employer, the company bears civil liability for damages in addition to paying statutory industrial accident compensation. Civil damages cover all losses suffered by the deceased that bear a reasonable causal connection to the employer’s negligence. These are generally categorized into: ①Passive damages such as lost future income (income the deceased would have earned until retirement) and lost retirement benefits, ②Active damages such as funeral expenses, and ③Emotional damages such as compensation for mental suffering (pain and suffering). If the total civil damages exceed the amount of industrial accident compensation, the employer must pay the excess amount as civil compensation.
In work-related fatal accident cases, if a direct perpetrator–victim relationship exists, the victim’s family may file a criminal complaint for involuntary manslaughter (negligent homicide) against the responsible individual. In this case, however, there was no specific company employee who was directly identifiable as the liable perpetrator. Nevertheless, since the accident occurred in a workplace where a serious accident took place, the company became subject to a labor inspector’s investigation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act to determine whether safety regulations were violated. If such violations are found, criminal penalties follow. Moreover, under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, introduced in 2021, employers and companies face severe criminal penalties for serious accidents arising from inadequate safety management. In such criminal proceedings, it is possible for the victim’s family to demand a criminal settlement payment in exchange for filing petitions for leniency or statements of non-punishment.
In this case, disputes arose concerning the appropriate amount for civil damages and the additional criminal settlement sum. Ultimately, the parties reached an amicable agreement, which is examined in more detail below.

2. Basis for Calculating Civil and Criminal Settlement Amounts
The most critical factor in calculating civil damages is determining the employer’s degree of negligence. This can be assessed by reviewing precedents from similar industrial accident cases. Examples include:
(1) Changwon District Court ruling on November 5, 2021, Decision 2020gadan9377
A Sri Lankan worker suffered severe injuries when his hand was pulled into a bending machine during knife-replacement work.
The court held the employer liable because: ①the worker did not receive sufficient machine-operation training, ②the worker was assigned to the machine while the person in charge was absent, and ③no additional safety devices beyond a fixed lever were installed. The court also found contributory negligence on the part of the plaintiff for failing to take reasonable care for his own safety. Accordingly, the defendant’s liability for damages was limited to 80% (with 20% contributory negligence attributed to the plaintiff).
(2) Jeonju District Court ruling on January 23, 2018, 2015gadan 357
Plaintiff A, who had been hired as a daily construction laborer at a sashimi restaurant operated by the defendant, suffered a fall accident from a height of 6.5 meters while dismantling the roof panels of an aquarium tank. At the time of the accident, no safety rails or safety nets had been installed, and the plaintiff was not wearing a safety helmet or safety harness.
The court acknowledged the defendant’s negligence as an employer for failing to fulfill the duty of protection, such as providing safety equipment and conducting safety training. The court also found contributory negligence on the part of Plaintiff A for failing to observe basic precautions, including wearing safety gear. Accordingly, the defendant’s liability was limited to 70% (with 30% contributory negligence assigned to the plaintiff).
(3) Changwon District Court ruling on January 15, 2020, 2019Gahap100752
This case concerns a claim for damages arising from a fatal fall accident at a construction site. The deceased, J, was an employee of Defendant E Co., Ltd., and died after falling from a height of 13 meters while performing steel-frame work. The plaintiffs are the heirs of the deceased, and they filed a damages claim against the defendant.
The court found that the employer violated its duty to take safety measures because essential safety devices—such as work platforms, fall-prevention nets, and safety harness installations—were not provided. Due to this violation, the defendant was convicted in a criminal trial of occupational negligence resulting in death and violation of the Industrial Safety and Health Act. The court also recognized contributory negligence on the part of the deceased (failure to use the aerial work platform, non-compliance with safety rules) and therefore limited the defendant’s liability to 70% (with 30% contributory negligence attributed to the plaintiffs).

3. Settlement Proposal from the Bereaved Family and Company’s Acceptance
Civil damages are calculated by estimating: ①lost earnings and lost retirement benefits the worker would have received until retirement, and ②KRW 100 million in pain-and-suffering damages, then applying the employer’s negligence percentage. Based on the court precedents above, the family calculated the employer’s negligence at 80% to 50%, and added with a criminal settlement amount of KRW 50 million, then deducted the industrial accident compensation already received. The resulting proposals were:
(1) Employer negligence 80%:
Civil damages KRW 346,694,542 + Criminal settlement KRW 50,000,000 – Industrial accident compensation KRW 143,451,38 = KRW 253,243,162
(2) Employer negligence 70%:
Civil damages KRW 324,020,223 + Criminal settlement KRW 50,000,000 – Industrial accident compensation KRW 143,451,380 = KRW 230,568,843
(3) Employer negligence 60%:
Civil damages KRW 283,445,906 + Criminal settlement KRW 50,000,000 – Industrial accident compensation KRW 143,451,380 = KRW 189,994,526
(4) Employer negligence 50%:
Civil damages KRW 242,871,588 + Criminal settlement KRW 50,000,000 – Industrial accident compensation KRW 143,451,380 = KRW 149,420,208

Initially, the company proposed using a 50% negligence rate to settle the matter. However, the bereaved family agreed that litigation would be undesirable and sought an amicable compromise. They therefore proposed a 60% negligence rate, even though it reduced their compensation. The company accepted this proposal, and the parties reached a civil and criminal settlement based on 60% employer negligence, in addition to the statutory industrial accident compensation. Under this settlement, the family received the agreed compensation and, in return, submitted petitions for leniency and statements of non-punishment, waiving all civil and criminal claims against the company.

V. Implications
It is truly tragic when a worker loses their life in an industrial accident, and such incidents cause significant harm to both the company and the employees. If employers and workers maintain strong safety awareness and take thorough preventive measures, most accidents can be avoided before they occur. This case, marked by the horrific death of a worker, again underscores the critical importance of workplace safety.
In handling this foreign worker industrial accident case, two particularly challenging issues had to be resolved.
First, in proving that the deceased worker’s minor daughter from his previous marriage was the rightful beneficiary of survivors’ benefits, multiple documents issued in Vietnam had to go through notarization and authentication procedures—such as family relations certificates, proof of divorce, and documentation establishing the legal guardianship of the minor child. In addition, the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea required a verification process to confirm the authenticity of these documents, which significantly delayed the timeline.
Second, because the deceased was a foreign national, the civil and criminal settlement process required even greater caution. The representative of the bereaved family relied on precedents involving the industrial accident deaths of foreign workers to persuade the company. At the same time, the company—aware of the heightened societal scrutiny surrounding serious industrial accidents—determined that reaching a prompt settlement with the bereaved family would be the most prudent course of action. As a result, the company accepted the family’s proposed settlement terms, allowing the civil and criminal agreements to be concluded smoothly.