A flight attendant of a famous airline from South Korea fell ill with stomach cancer due to exposure to radiation on the plane, Channelnewsasia reports more about the situation.
According to the publication, steward Song annually spent about 1,022 hours on board the aircraft, with almost half of his flights being on long-distance routes to America and Europe. He worked for the company for about 25 years.
Song was diagnosed with stage four stomach cancer in April 2021 and died a month later.
The Korea Worker’s Compensation and Welfare Service ruled in October 2023 that the employee’s illness was “as a result of exposure to cosmic radiation.”
It is clarified that Korean Air refused to comment on the commission’s decision but denies any violations.
According to media reports, the airline said it was limiting workers’ annual radiation exposure “to be well below the country’s maximum standard.”
Labor lawyer Kim Sung-hyun, who represented the Song family, noted that the carrier was using an “old measurement method” so he said the scale of the problem was underestimated. He also called on the airline to conduct a thorough investigation.