Police officers carry boxes confiscated from battery maker Aricell and workforce suppliers in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, as they, together with the labor ministry, ratcheted up the investigation into a deadly fire at the company's factory that killed 23 workers on Monday. Yonhap

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched an investigation into lithium battery maker Aricell over suspected illegal hiring of foreign workers after Monday's deadly fire at its factory killed 23 employees, including 18 foreign nationals, officials said Thursday.

In particular, the ministry is looking into whether Aricell had directly imposed work orders on foreign temporary laborers hired by subcontractors, which is an illegal practice.

Korean laws distinguish between dispatched workers and subcontracted workers. The former receive work orders directly from contractors, while the latter are not directly asked to do work by contractors. The latter receive work orders from their suppliers, and the contractors are only responsible for payment for their work.

The laws allow dispatch of workers for only 32 types of industries that require professional knowledge, but it is widely believed that the Aricell factory's range of work does not fall within these categories. Therefore, if the factory gave direct work orders on foreign workers, it would be considered illegal hiring, aimed at cutting down on labor costs.

"If Aricell substantially exercised authority on subcontracted workers, it can be seen as the use of dispatched workers, regardless of the type of contract it signed. We are looking into this," a ministry official said.

The official noted that other key factors to determining the illegality of the hiring process are whether foreign laborers worked jointly with Aricell employees in a group and whether Aricell decided on the working and resting hours of foreign workers.

Bereaved family members mourn at a memorial altar at Hwaseong City Hall in Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, which was set for 23 victims from a deadly fire that broke out at a factory of battery maker Aricell in the city, Monday. Yonhap

The Aricell factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, was engulfed in fire on Monday, killing 17 Chinese nationals, five Korean nationals and one Laotian national. Eight others were also injured.

On Tuesday, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency booked five officials of Aricell and workforce suppliers on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, among others, and banned them from leaving the country.

Aricell CEO Park Soon-kwan, who is also the head of Aricell's parent company S-Connect, said during a press conference on the same day that the factory had 103 employees, of which 50 were regular workers and 53 were foreign workers.

He also said the foreign laborers who died were all subcontracted workers, and their suppliers gave work orders to them, trying to defend the factory from suspicions that it illegally used dispatched workers via the subcontract system.

"There was no illegal dispatch of workers as work orders came from their suppliers," Park said. "We offered sufficient safety education to the workers and stored batteries properly."

Park Soon-kwan, CEO of Aricell, speaks during a press conference in front of the company's factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, a day after a fire killed 23 workers there. Yonhap

On the other hand, one of the companies that supplied foreign laborers to the battery factory said that Aricell used dispatched workers illegally and called Park a liar, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Regarding this, the labor ministry official said, "Due to their conflicting arguments, it will be necessary to check what is fact."

Even if Aricell had used subcontracted workers legally, the factory could not be immune from accountability for not offering employment insurance and occupational health and safety insurance for foreign workers, the official noted.

Meanwhile, Aricell hired lawyers from Kim & Chang, the largest law firm in Korea, in connection with the accident, one of the worst industrial disasters in the nation's history, though how many lawyers are working to defend the factory is unknown so far.