Another worker who was working at Hankook Tire & Technology's Geumsan plant died. According to the Media DJ, a 40-year-old worker Lee who joined Hankook Tire's Geumsan plant in November 2010 and left the company in 2016, died on June 1.
In 2014, Lee suffered from a "sarcomatoid carcinoma" and retired from Hankook Tire in 2016. Since joining the Geumsan plant, Lee has worked with the QA team until January 2016 to examine the exterior of the tire and carry out work directly on the inside.
Hankook Tire's Industrial Accident Council claims that Lee's exposure to the complex organic solvents containing benzene and toluene caused the development of the cancer during his working hours.
Lee was diagnosed with the cancer at Chungnam National University Hospital in October 2014 and received the definite diagnosis of the cancer at the National Cancer Center in November.
In July last year, a 48-year-old employee of the facility preservation team at the Geumsan plant suffered "unspecified cerebral hemorrhage" while sleeping, and was taken to a hospital and died while receiving treatment.
The death cases of Hankook Tire workers have long been controversial. During the parliamentary audit in October last year, the list of some 170 Hankook Tire workers' deaths was disclosed from 1996 to July 2018.
"The deceased Lee filed for industrial accident with the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service in 2016, but I know he didn't get approval for it in 2017," a Hankook Tire official said in a recent telephone interview with the newspaper.
