South Korea’s arms agency to provide technical support for probe into Hanwha factory blast

Seoul, June 2 (IANS) The arms procurement agency of South Korea said on Tuesday its affiliated bodies will provide technical assistance to an investigation into a recent explosion at a Hanwha Aerospace factory.

The Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the agency has also formed a task force to manage the situation, after Monday’s explosion and fire at the Hanwha Aerospace plant left five people killed and two others injured.

“We will support, when necessary, the investigation by utilising our personnel and technical expertise of the Agency for Defence Development and the Defence Agency for Technology and Quality and other specialised institutions in the process of determining the cause of the accident,” DAPA spokesperson Kim Joo-chul said during a press briefing.

Regarding concerns over possible lapses in inspections at high-security defence industry facilities, Kim said the agency has been conducting annual inspections based on relevant laws, reports Yonhap news agency.

“As for this incident, we understand that the Central Industrial Disaster Headquarters and the Ministry of Employment and Labor will carry out a comprehensive investigation into the causes,” Kim added.

Hours after the accident on Monday, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back offered condolences to the victims and their bereaved families, vowing to spare no effort to help figure out the exact causes and prevent such tragedies from recurring.

Police have launched a joint inspection as part of a probe into a deadly explosion at the facility the previous day.

The joint inspection involved officials from the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, the fire service, the National Forensic Service, the labour ministry and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, reports Yonhap news agency.

The police plan to investigate the exact cause of the explosion by locating where the ignition began and looking into whether flammable materials were present at the scene.

Hanwha officials have said workers were cleaning propellant powder residue from tools used in producing propulsion systems at the time of the explosion.

The building where the explosion took place has been partially damaged, but it is not at risk of collapse, according to the police.

–IANS

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