President Lee Jae Myung has reprimanded POSCO E&C after the construction company reported its fifth fatal industrial accident this year, even accusing the builder of killing its workers through gross negligence.

Presiding over a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Lee said five people who simply went to work ended up losing their lives, stressing that employers are to blame when similar incidents keep happening over and over again at unsafe industrial sites. 

The president said he intends to visit the company, expressing hope that 2025 will be the year when industrial workplace deaths are finally eradicated in this country.

Lee urged Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon to crack down on safety violations with the mindset of a special forces unit in charge of protecting human lives.

The minister pledged to put his job on the line, and the president agreed Kim should step down if the number of industrial accidents does not decrease within a reasonable time frame.