The court sentenced all officials, including SK and Aekyung, who made the humidifier disinfectant, to acquittal. There is not enough evidence to suggest that the ingredients used by Aekyung et al caused lung disease. In the court’s ruling, the victims were fierce about whether there was no perpetrator to blame.
Reporter Bae Jun-woo reports.
<기자>
The Seoul Central District Law condemned all 34 former and current employees of SK Chemicals and Aekyung Industrial, who manufactured and sold humidifier mates, one of the domestic humidifier disinfectants.
They are suspected of not properly verifying the safety of the raw materials CMIT and MIT, and the judiciary judged that the causal relationship that these raw materials cause lung disease and the like is unclear.
This is a different conclusion from those of Oxy, Lotte Mart, and Homeplus, which manufacture and sell humidifier disinfectants with different ingredients from these products.
The victims were angry and fierce.
There were victims, but they strongly protested, asking if there was no perpetrator to be held accountable.
[조순미/가습기 살균제 피해자 (어제) : 이 제품을 써서 한두 명씩 죽어간 그 숫자가 어마어마함에도 불구하고 어떻게 모두가 무죄라고 할 수 있습니까! 내 몸에 일어나는 일이, 그것이 다 증거인데….]
The victims’ group strongly opposed the acquittal sentence, saying, “The chemical hazards pointed out by the court are widely reported to the academic community and the evidence is sufficient.”
In addition, they argued that investigative agencies and governments that failed to properly verify the cause of the damage were also largely responsible, and argued that the fact should be revealed even by resuming the activities of the Special Investigation Committee, which was recently concluded.
As the prosecution immediately unveils the policy of appeal, it is expected that whether or not the harmfulness has been properly verified in the upcoming trial.