Activities of Busan Joint Action Committee against Asbestos

Suk-koun, Lee

Korea Institute of Labor Safety and Health/

Busan Joint Action Committee against Asbestos

BAN aSBESTOS NETWORK KOREA

Factories permitted to manufacture Asbestos (1991~2006)

Location Number

Seoul/Kyeong-gi 25

Busan/Kyeong-nam

28

Others 24

Sum 77

Number of factories permit-ted to manufacture asbestos (1991~2006), by Labor Min-istry

25

Seoul/Kyeong-gi

28Busan/

Kyeong-nam

Busan Joint Action Committee against Asbestos

• When did we start?- from March, 2008

• Who are we?- asbestos victims and their families- activists from KCTU, environmental or-

ganizations, and labor health organiza-tions

- concerned citizens who are against as-bestos

Busan Joint Action Committee against Asbestos

• What are our goals?- to organize and support asbestos victims- to fight for banning asbestos - to monitor the govn’t policies on asbestos- to reform asbestos-related regulations- to improve the compensation system for

asbestos victims- to strengthen international solidarity

Our Current Activities

1. Monitoring the asbestos removal projects by Busan City government

2. Organizing international workshops on asbestos victims

3. Supporting lawsuits for asbestos vic-tims

4. Searching for environmental asbestos victims

1. Monitoring City Govn’t Projects

• Asbestos Removal Projects by Busan City Covn’t- “Complete Enumeration Survey on Asbestos Slate Roofs

in Busan”(2011)- “Demolition and Removal of Asbestos Slate Roofs in

Busan”(2012)

• What we did after monitoring- demanded the city govn’t take measures to prevent

asbestos scattering when the roofs were demolished and removed

- called for the expansion of the bugets to demolished and remove asbestos slate roofs in Busan

2. Korea-Japan Workshop on As-bestos Victims

• Date : June 3~4, 2013

• Topics of discussion- situations of asbestos victims- activities of asbestos victims’ groups - problems in the compensation and/or re-

lief system for asbestos victims- difficulties in clarifying the sources of re-

sponsibility for damages from asbestos

• Results of the workshop- Adoption of a resolution- Press conference

2. Korea-Japan Workshop on As-bestos Victims

3. Lawsuits for Asbestos Victims

• First Trial(2008~2012)

- Busan district court: “JEIL E&S was responsible for the diseases of asbestos victims.”

- 90% of occupational cases were admitted

- 60% of environmental cases were admitted

* However…- The Korea government and NICHIAS were found

not responsible.

- Both parties appealed against the decision of the court.

3. Lawsuits for Asbestos Victims

• Second Trial(2012~2013)- High court dismissed the appeal by

both parties- Same ruiling as the first trial

* Now the lawsuit is underway in the Supreme court.

4. Environmental Asbestos Victims

• Victims with mesothelioma- 20 victims identified- The youngest victim : 35 years old- Most of the victims : in their 40s and

50s

• Victims with asbestosis- 11 victims identified

JEIL E&S were found responsible for all 31 victims.

Our Tasks for the Future

• To put more efforts to search for the victims of asbestos

• To enlarge support for the lawsuits by the victims

• To expand monitoring activities for the demolition and removal of asbestos materials by Busan city government

• To improve our system for more stable activities against asbestos

13Ban Asbestos Network KOrea

Thank You!!BAN aSBESTOS NETWORK KOREA