Humidifier Disinfectant Tragedy: 33 Years On, A Record Demanding State and Corporate Accountability

'Breathe;X - Death Came Whitely', a new book, has been published. The book captures the criminal structure of the state and corporations behind the humidifier disinfectant tragedy, which has spanned 33 years from product development in 1992 to the Supreme Court ruling in 2024. Documentary director Ryu Yi met with about 100 victims and experts over four years and six months, and documented scenes at hospitals, courts, and the National Assembly.

This book defines the humidifier disinfectant tragedy as a severe chemical product disaster, with approximately 8.9 million people exposed, 950,000 victims, and 20,000 deaths. It emphasizes the necessity of a record that clearly shows the full scope of the incident from beginning to end, adopting a visual white paper format that combines the structure of a white paper with photographic records to explore the structural context of the incident.

The book is structured around 30 key events, from the development and market formation of humidifier disinfectants in 1992 to the Supreme Court's judgment in 2024. It focuses on child victims, who accounted for over 30% of total deaths among infants and children, highlighting that the tragedy extended beyond a simple consumer dispute.

Fourteen years after the tragedy was revealed in 2011, compensation and accountability determination remain incomplete. The book traces how the civilization of chemical substances, regulatory failures, corporate cover-ups, and judicial responses intertwined, aiming to create a reference point for citizens to understand the structure of a national catastrophe. It also points out that the special investigative committee did not acknowledge state crimes, and that corporations and bureaucratic organizations have concealed, downplayed, and distorted the incident.