All Five Geothermal Power Officials Acquitted in First Trial Over Pohang Earthquake

A court has issued its first ruling that it is difficult to hold geothermal power project officials criminally responsible for the November 2017 Pohang earthquake in North Gyeongsang Province.

The court did not accept the prosecution's argument that the defendants failed to suspend geothermal power generation or sufficiently analyze its risks despite induced earthquakes occurring prior to the main quake.

Consequently, all five defendants were acquitted.

This ruling is expected to create considerable ripples as it marks the first judicial judgment regarding criminal liability connected to the Pohang earthquake.

The 1st Criminal Division of the Daegu District Court's Pohang Branch (Presiding Judge Lee Hye-rang) acquitted all five geothermal project officials indicted on charges including professional negligence resulting in death today (the 23rd).

The defendants include two officials from the lead organization of the Pohang geothermal power consortium, two officials from a government-funded research institute, and one research head from a university industry-academic cooperation group participating in the consortium.

They were indicted for responding inadequately even though they needed to suspend geothermal operations and analyze the risk level after a magnitude 3.1 induced earthquake occurred around April 15, 2017, seven months prior to the Pohang earthquake.

The magnitude 5.4 earthquake that struck Pohang on November 15, 2017, was the second largest in the history of instrumental earthquake observations in South Korea, causing extensive casualties and property damage.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.