Seoul: Hanwha Aerospace Co., a defence affiliate under Hanwha Group in South Korea, said on Tuesday it has partially suspended production at its Daejeon facility after a deadly explosion at the plant.
In a regulatory filing, the arms manufacturer said it was ordered by labour authorities to halt operations at the facility, about 140 kilometres south of Seoul, due to a serious workplace accident under South Korea’s occupational safety laws.
The explosion killed five people and injured two others, and police have launched a joint probe to investigate the exact cause of the accident.
Hanwha officials said workers were cleaning propellant powder residue from tools used in the production of propulsion systems at the time of the explosion, reports Xinhua news agency.
Investigators plan to determine the source of the ignition and examine whether flammable materials were present at the scene.
The Daejeon plant is a key defence facility and is designated as a secret defence factory. It makes various weapons systems, including the Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and long-range surface-to-air missiles (L-SAM).
The affected production lines generated 1.32 trillion won (US$870 million) in revenue last year, accounting for 4.94 per cent of Hanwha Aerospace’s total revenue of 26.7 trillion won, according to the company.
The arms procurement agency said on Tuesday its affiliated bodies will provide technical assistance to an investigation into the explosion.
The Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the agency has also formed a task force to manage the situation, after Monday’s explosion and fire at the Hanwha Aerospace plant left five people killed and two others injured.
“We will support, when necessary, the investigation by utilising our personnel and technical expertise of the Agency for Defence Development and the Defence Agency for Technology and Quality and other specialised institutions in the process of determining the cause of the accident,” DAPA spokesperson Kim Joo-chul said during a press briefing.
Regarding concerns over possible lapses in inspections at high-security defence industry facilities, Kim said the agency has been conducting annual inspections based on relevant laws, reports Yonhap news agency.
“As for this incident, we understand that the Central Industrial Disaster Headquarters and the Ministry of Employment and Labor will carry out a comprehensive investigation into the causes,” Kim added.
Police have launched a joint inspection as part of a probe into a deadly explosion at the facility the previous day.
The joint inspection involved officials from the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, the fire service, the National Forensic Service, the labour ministry and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, reports Yonhap news agency.
(IANS)
