Korea establishes new provisions for imposition of non-penal fines for non-compliance with preventive provisions

On January 3, 2023, the Korean Government published the amended Act on the Safety Control of Hazardous Substances (Act No. 19161) to promote voluntary safety management by personnel involved in large-scale facilities that handle hazardous materials. The main contents of the amended Act are administrative supervision of the status of implementation of the preventive provisions, imposition of a non-penal fine in the event of non-compliance with the preventive provisions, and the establishment of new penal provisions in the event of an accident at an unauthorized hazardous materials facility.