June 25 (Tuesday): "The Hwaseong battery factory exploded again last week... The company is hush-hush and trying to keep it under wraps."

Testimony has emerged that there was another battery explosion accident at a lithium battery processing company in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, which claimed 22 lives, on the 22nd of this month.

On the 24th, A, who identified himself as a colleague of Mr. He, a Chinese national who lost his wife in this fire, said, "Last Saturday, Mr. He's wife came home and told us that there was a battery fire accident at the factory," and added, "However, the company apparently kept it quiet. They seemed to be trying to prevent it from being disclosed externally by keeping it hush-hush." Mr. He's wife was working at the factory where the fire occurred that day and ultimately could not escape the flames and died.

There was a fire last Saturday as well, but testimony suggests that the company tried to prevent this fact from leaking to the outside, making police investigation inevitable. If confirmed, it is expected that the issue of responsibility for failing to prevent the incident despite warning signs will become a major concern. Additionally, further investigation is anticipated to determine whether there were work managers and responsible persons on site.