On the way back after giving up work… Chinese Koreans who work away from Korea’van’

In the morning of the 1st, 12 casualties were injured in an accident where a van fell at the Namsejong Intersection on the Dangjin-Yeongdeok Expressway in Geumnam-myeon, Sejong City. The photo shows the accident vehicle. [사진 한국도로공사]

The Starex van departing Yeonseo-myeon, Sejong City on the morning of the 1st, carrying 12 Chinese nationals of foreign workers and 2 Koreans. The vehicle was headed to a construction site in Namwon City, Jeollabuk-do. In terms of distance, it was 170 km, and it took about 2 hours to travel.

Ten Chinese workers in Starex vans were daily workers who worked at the construction site and paid daily wages. Usually, workers working at construction sites receive a daily wage of 130,000 to 230,000 won as miscellaneous workers and professionals, depending on their skills and experience. However, when their work was canceled due to rain, they had to return to Sejong City, where the accommodation was located, without making any money.

The accident occurred around 8:21 am on the same day at Namsejong IC (85km from Dangjin) on the Dangjin-Yeongdeok Expressway, which is the boundary between Yuseong-gu, Daejeon and Geumnam-myeon, Sejong. The Starex van lost its center of gravity and overturned after hitting a high-pass signpost installed on the left side of the road while turning the IC bent to the right. Seven people in the car were killed in this accident, and five passengers were injured. Two of these were seriously injured and were moved to a nearby hospital for treatment. A police official said, “It seems that the casualties were more serious because the passengers did not fasten their seat belts.”

Around 8:21 am on the 1st, Starex was overthrown at the Namsejong Intersection on the Dangjin-Yeongdeok Expressway near Ansan-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, causing 12 casualties. [사진 한국도로공사]

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, Starex, who had an accident, entered Nam Sejong IC at 4:51 am on this day and exited Osu IC at 5:51 am. At that time, the average speed was 120 km. After that, when work was canceled due to rain, I entered Osu IC at 7:13 am and passed Nam Sejong IC at 8:21 am. At this time, the average speed was 106 km.

The police are paying attention to the fact that the accident area was the exit ramp section and the speed limit was 40 km/h. At that time, a closed-circuit TV (CCTV) video showing the scene of the accident vehicle passing the vehicle in front and speeding through the IC is being analyzed. The police are investigating the exact details of the accident based on CCTV footage and witness statements.

At around 8:21 am on the 1st, Starex was overthrown at the Namsejong Intersection on the Dangjin-Yeongdeok Expressway near Ansan-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, causing 12 casualties. Reporter Choi Jong-kwon

Officials in the manpower supply industry say that this accident is a tragedy provoked by’unreasonable work on a distance’. This is because, in the case of a manpower office registered with a local government, manpower is not sent to places that cross the boundaries of the metropolitan government.

An official at a manpower office in Sejong City said, “In the case of businesses registered with local governments, daily workers are usually sent to sites within 20 to 30 km. “There are cases where I go to work on an expedition.”

Some point out that as the domestic construction and rural manpower market has changed to foreigners, far-sighted work is frequently performed. There are many sites looking for foreign workers, but as a result of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), it is virtually impossible for foreigners to enter the country, and foreign workers in Korea are going on long-distance expeditions. An official from the police explained, “As the corona 19 prevents additional entry of foreigners, we know that foreigners who were already in the country frequently travel to long distances.”

This is not the first time an accident occurred while carrying a foreign worker on the road. In July 2019, the Grace van, carrying a total of 16 people, including 9 foreign workers, was overturned by a guard rail in the mountainous area of ​​Punggok-ri, Gagok-myeon, Samcheok-si, Gangwon-do, while going from Hongseong, Chungcheongnam-do to the chives field in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

At that time, four people died and nine were injured in the accident. Two of the dead were foreign workers. It is 250 km from Hongseong-gun to Bonghwa-gun, which takes about 4 hours by car. For this reason, it was analyzed that at the time, “going out on an unreasonable expedition to earn a daily wage was the main cause of the accident.”

Daejeon·Sejong = Reporters Banghyun Kim, Jinho Shin, Jongkwon Choi, Jinho Park [email protected]