Aricell chief Park Soon-kwan was sentenced to 15 years in prison for failing to properly inspect a factory prior to a deadly fire in 2024.

The Suwon District Court sentenced Park on Tuesday for violating the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, the Act on the Protection of Temporary Agency Workers and the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The prison term is the heaviest punishment handed down under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act since the law took effect in 2022.

Prosecutors said Park had failed to properly inspect an Aricell lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, for risk factors and take other necessary safety precautions, neglecting his duty to secure the safety and health of his employees.

The prosecution said Park's negligence led to a fire at the plant that killed 23 people and injured eight in June of last year. 

The company chief's son, Park Joong-eon, who oversaw factory management, was sentenced to 15 years and fined one million won, or around 717 U.S. dollars, for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act, violating safety protocols and other acts of occupational and gross negligence that prosecutors say caused death and injury.

Six Aricell executives, who were indicted as Park Joong-eon's accomplices, were handed one- to two-year prison sentences or ten-million-won fines.