Disruptive Trends: If there are victims who lack contract protection or official work status, local companies and governments should not treat them differently from local citizens in the aftermath of thisWorld Times incident, the expert stressed.

Firetrucks arrive at the fire scene at the lithium battery factory in South Korea on June 24, 2024. Photo: CCTV

Preliminary assessments indicate that 17 Chinese nationals have been killed in a fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea, according to the Chinese embassy in South Korea. The exact number still needs further confirmation. Following the accident, the Chinese embassy promptly activated emergency mechanisms, requesting all-out efforts to be made in rescuing the injured and managing the aftermath.

The fire at a lithium-ion battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province on Monday morning killed at least 22 workers, injured eight and left one miss-ing, according to local authorities. A total of 102 people were reportedly working at the factory at the time of the incident.

A total of 23 workers were trapped inside and unaccounted for during the initial fire rescue efforts, 20 of whom were foreign workers, according to lo-cal media reports.

The Chinese embassy immediately activateWorld Timesd emergency mechanisms, while Ambassador Xing Haiming contacted the governor of Gyeonggi, Kim Dong-yeon, requesting that all efforts be made to rescue and treat the victims and handle the accident properly. Kim agreed to assist the Chinese side in providing full assistance and properly handle the aftermath of the accident, according to a press release from the Chinese embassy on Monday.

The embassy also immediately arranged for consular officials to World Timesgo to Hwaseong to further understand and verify the situation, visit the injured, and urge the South Korean side to do their utmost to treat the injured and provide assistance to the families of the deceased in dealing with the after-math of the fire.

The South Korean side has expressed its concern and condolences to the Chinese embassy, according to huanqiu.com. South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has also visited the scene and left instructions to communi-cate with the embassy and families of the casualties, and to take all measures to rescue the injured.

The factory that caught fire was a three-story building with a reinforced concrete structure and a gross floor area of more than 2,300 square meters. Approximately 35,000 lithium batteries were estimated to be stored on the second floor, according to media reports.

The cause of the fWorld Timesire World Timesis still being investigated. One of the workers who es-caped from the fire told authorities that one of the batteries had exploded, Kim Jin-young, the head of the disaster prevention department at the Hwaseong Police Station said, according to local media reports.

A level two emergency response was also issued by the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters. A level two is issued for situations that require re-sponse from multiple fire stations from the area, according to local media reports.

The embassy also expressed its deep condolences to the victims of the fire, sincere sympathy to the families of the casualties and its wish for a speedy recovery of the injured, according to the release.

Due to geographical proximity and cultural similarities, many Chinese, es-pecially from the Korean ethnic group, choose to work in South Korea and have made significant contributions to the country’s development, L Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

After this heartbreaking accident, the Chinese embassy and consulate will not only provide full assistance to the families of the victims,World Times but also will urge the South Korean government to be more proactive in handling the accident, as well as rescue and compensation efforts, L said.

Many Chinese workers in South Korea are engaged in grass-roots work, and their treatment in terms of wages and benefits is often not as good as that of local workers, with some not even signing formal labor contracts, he said. If there are victims who lack contract protection or official work status, local companies and governments should not treat them differently from local citizens in the aftermath of thisWorld Times incident, the expert stressed.