South Korea zinc firm Young Poong's CEO arrested over probe into safety lapses

By Joyce Lee and Julian Luk

SEOUL/ LONDON Aug 29 - The CEO of South Korea's Young Poong Corp has been arrested, the company said on Thursday, as prosecutors investigated his liability over safety-related deaths at the company's Seokpo zinc smelter.

A South Korean court approved early Thursday an arrest warrant for CEO Park Young Min after prosecutors alleged he violated a South Korean law that holds employers criminally liable for serious industrial accidents.

Young Poong said Park's arrest caused no major disruption to management or production.

It had already cut production at Seokpo, the world's sixth-largest zinc smelter since March, Reuters reported.

Park has yet to be formally charged. The Daegu District Court's Andong Branch said it approved the warrant for Park due to flight risk and potential destruction of evidence.

He has denied some of the allegations, local media said. A spokesperson for Park could not be reached.

Three deadly incidents including gas exposure and heatstroke have occurred at the Seokpo smelter in the last nine months, killing three people and injuring three, Yonhap news agency reported, citing prosecutors.

The zinc market is closely watching the fate of the 400,000 metric ton-per-year Seokpo smelter.

Young Poong is in the process of appealing against an earlier decision by regional authorities to close the plant for two months for alleged environmental violations, according to the company's August regulatory filing.

Big production cuts or a complete shutdown of Seokpo could tip the market into deficit- as zinc surplus for 2024 has narrowed to only 19,000 tons, a July poll by Reuters showed.

That compares to a 300,000 tons surplus forecasted at the beginning of the year. Shortage of zinc concentrates, crushed ores used in making zinc, pressured smelters to cut production.

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