Victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants and members of major environmental rights groups, including the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements and the Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, circle around the building with funeral biers to symbolize a “death procession” after a press conference in front of Oxy’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, April 22, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Apr. 22 (Korea Bizwire) –Victims’ groups and environmental advocates marked Earth Day on April 22 by announcing the 1,853rd death linked to toxic humidifier disinfectants, ramping up pressure on companies to compensate those sickened by the products years after a national scandal erupted.
At a news conference outside the headquarters of Oxy, a major producer of the poisonous chemicals, activists revealed that Kim Bok-hee, a victim from Cheonan, died on April 6 after over a decade battling severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease without receiving full indemnification.
According to victims, Kim reported illnesses from Oxy and Aekyung Industrial’s humidifier disinfectants in 2013 and was officially certified as a victim under South Korea’s relief act. But she spent her final 11 years shuttling between hospital and home before succumbing last week at Dankook University Hospital.
While the 2017 law enables victims to claim medical expenses, survivors continue demanding full corporate compensation for the crisis, which has been estimated to have killed over 20,000 people nationwide.
In April 2022, a mediation committee suggested nine companies, including Oxy, pay maximum damages totaling around 924 billion won to over 7,000 victims. But major firms like Oxy and Aekyung have refused to accept the proposal, leaving it unimplemented over two years later.
Victims’ groups criticized the humidifier crisis for failing to emerge as a central election issue ahead of South Korea’s recent parliamentary vote.
Kim Bok-hee, a victim of toxic humidifier disinfectants. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
“While only 1,852 deaths from over 20,000 have been officially reported, this tragedy is being forgotten by both politicians and society,” said one activist at the rally, accusing the new National Assembly of neglecting its duties.
“The 22nd parliament must properly resolve this catastrophe within the year by ensuring compensation, assigning state responsibility and making firms implement a revised mediation plan,” the activist added. “This should be codified into law through an amendment.”
Rulings in January effectively acknowledged that all disinfectant ingredients caused lung illnesses, assigning greater liability to manufacturers like SK Chemicals and Aekyung’s former CEOs who were convicted of selling hazardous products.
But companies continue stalling on damage payments while the crisis fades from public consciousness, victims say — a pattern they aim to reverse by commemorating each death on environmentally symbolic days like Earth Day.
“On a day meant to cherish our planet’s health, we reiterate victims’ demands for justice from corporations that poisoned families across the nation through corporate malfeasance,” the activist group’s statement said.
Seo Young-cheol, a victim of toxic humidifier disinfectants, speaks during a press conference on the death of the 1853rd victim of the humidifier disinfectant disaster in front of the Oxy headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, April 22, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
