The warning sound of the wooden hand gong, struck by the Jogye Order to halt the tragedy of on average six workers losing their lives daily on the worksite, brought together the government, the National Assembly, the labor organizations, and religious communities.

On November 18, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism held a memorial service for the victims of industrial accidents at Jogye-sa Temple in Seoul. During the service, the Order honored all victims, including both domestic and migrant workers. The Order also urged the government to implement concrete policies and provided a platform for bereaved families to share their stories. In response, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok promised to meet regularly with bereaved families, and the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee pledged to enact institutional reforms.

Despite the sub-zero temperatures, more than 1,000 people attended the event in the courtyard in front of the Main Buddha Hall at Jogye-sa Temple. In attendance were Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, government officials, National Assembly members, religious leaders, labor representatives, and approximately 30 bereaved family members. Together, they prayed for the deceased to be reborn in the Western Paradise and pledged to create safer workplaces. The memorial service dedicated 155 memorial tablets, which honor 94 domestic workers who died in industrial accidents at sites such as the Taean Thermal Power Plant, Kyungdong Construction, and Pyeongtaek Port, as well as over 50 migrant workers from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Family members of victims from the Sewol Ferry disaster, the Itaewon crush, Aricell fire, and Jeju Air crash also joined the memorial.

During his Dharma talk to guide the souls of the deceased to heaven, Most Ven. Jinwoo, the president of the Jogye Order, emphasized, “All beings have innate Buddha-nature, and no life is insignificant.” He stressed that "no profit takes precedence over life" and pointed out the harsh reality that migrant workers lose their lives due to structural problems, such as the Employment Permit System, while doing the most dangerous jobs behind the scenes of the Korean economy.

The president of the Jogye Order described the day's commemoration as a “warning sound of a wooden hand gong” and stated that the Jogye Order will actively strive to create a world free of industrial accidents. He promised that the Jogye Order, as a religious order upholding the teachings of respect for life, will not lose sight of its compassionate gaze toward migrant workers and the socially vulnerable.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok stated, “While our nation has grown rapidly to join the ranks of advanced economies, this growth has come at the cost of countless workers’ lives lost to industrial accidents.” He added that the government takes industrial accidents seriously and is striving to create safe workplaces based on the comprehensive labor safety measures announced last September. He further pledged, “We will never forget the sacrifices of our workers,” and added, “We will drive tangible change in industrial sites to ensure such pain is never repeated.”