The “Fetal Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act” (Amendment of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act) which recognizes the congenital health damage to children of pregnant workers exposed to harmful factors due to an industrial accident, will be implemented starting next January. However, criticism arose for it is difficult to officially recognize industrial accidents, due to the narrow harmful factors stipulated in the new enforcement decree, and the act’s application excluding fatherhood. Therefore, the Korean Government should revise the laws which undermine the legislative purpose of the Fetal Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.

The Jeju Medical Center case ruling was the first to recognize birth defects as a part of occupational disease. In 2009 and 2010, out of 15 pregnant nurses at the center, four gave birth to children with congenital heart disease and five miscarried. During pregnancy, they worked overtime for 10 to 15 days a month and handled strong drugs including ones that carry reproductive toxicity, without safety equipment or proper education. For their lawsuit, which began in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that "health damage to the fetus should also be regarded as an accident on duty," but it took a long time for the legislation, which is the practical compensation measure, to be prepared. The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) revised the Enforcement Decree of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act which designates the harmful factors to fetus health injuries in January, and pre-announced it in October. However, the number of harmful factors admitted by the MOEL was mere 35. And among them, factors such as shift work, night work, and job stress, which became clear as harmful factors for the fetus in the Jeju Medical Center case, were not included. Furthermore, out of more than a thousand chemicals found to have adverse effects on a fetus, only 17 were designated as harmful chemical factors. MOEL said they defined the harmful factors based on medical grounds and cases recognized by the Supreme Court, but many were excluded, such as 2-Bromopropane which caused menstrual irregularities and infertility in 23 female workers of LG Electronics in 1995. MOEL said, "Most of the reproductive toxic substances and reproductive cell mutagenic substances are factors that affect reproductive function (fertility, miscarriage, etc.)”, and that “it is likely for fetal harmful factors to be fewer in number than those that cause miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth." Besides, even in the application of the subject of recognition to the enforcement decree, the act does not include paternal causes, which has yet to be seen in many real life cases. In 2021, a man who fathered a child suffering from CHARGE Syndrome, due to his exposure to isopropyl alcohol, a reproductive toxicant, working as a Samsung LCD engineer for seven years, was the first case to apply for compensation. However, the subject of the act is currently limited to "pregnant workers," so he has no legal basis to demand either recognition or compensation as an industrial accident.

According to the MOEL in 2019, 100,000 working women in Korea in their childbearing age are exposed to reproductive toxic substances. The number is much higher including men who are potential fathers. Parents who do not fall within the narrow range stipulated by the revised bill are bearing the pain inherited to their children but cannot demand legitimate compensation. Thus, the government should reflect on the legislative purpose of the Fetal Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act and revise it for the better.