A law punishing employers for workplace accidents will apply to companies with fewer than 50 employees from Saturday after rival camps failed to agree on a two-year extension to the grace period.

Ruling and opposition parties failed to pass a revised bill on extending the grace period for the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act by two years for such businesses during a plenary session Thursday. 

Under the act, business owners face a minimum one-year prison term or a fine of up to one billion won, or around 747-thousand U.S. dollars, upon the death or serious injury of an employee in the workplace.

The ruling People Power Party submitted the revision bill last September, citing a lack of preparation by businesses with fewer than 50 workers and a personnel shortage.

Rival camps had actively conducted negotiations on the bill behind the scenes but ultimately failed to pass the bill due to differences over the main opposition Democratic Party’s proposal to set up an agency tasked with occupational safety and health. 

Meanwhile, rival camps passed a special law on building the so-called Moonlight Inland Railway that would link Daegu in North Gyeongsang Province and Gwangju in South Jeolla Province. 

Set to be completed in 2030, the railway that would stretch nearly 200 kilometers will pass through six metropolitan cities. 

Once the railway opens, travel time between Gwangju and Daegu is set to be reduced to an hour or so.