Prosecutors, who are reinvestigating the so-called humidifier sterilizer case, have sought arrest warrants for senior executives of SK Chemicals (currently SK Discovery), who supplied the problematic disinfectant materials.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said on March 12 that it has requested an arrest warrant for four people, including SK Chemicals' managing director, for the destruction of evidence. SK Chemicals is a company that supplies raw material of humidifier sterilizer called "Mate."
Prosecutors believe that they have discarded data on the harmful effects of chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT) and methylisothiazolinone (MIT), which were used as raw materials for humidifier sterilizers. The trial will take place at the Seoul Central District Court on March 14.
Previously, former executives of the Aekyung Co., which sold the products, were arrested on similar charges. Prosecutors have arrested Ko Kwang-hyun, former CEO of Aekyung, on charges of inciting to destroy evidence and a former Aekyung executive on charges of destroying evidence. They were also accused of destroying data related to CMIT several times.
The incident erupted in 2011 when a civic group raised suspicions that hundreds of infants and young children died of unknown pneumonia, many of whom used humidifier disinfectants.
