Government-level epidemiological investigation into the health impacts on victims and relief for victims must be conducted

Press conference held at Gwanghwamun Square on the 8th, titled 'What I want from the Lee Jae-myung government - Investigate the health epidemiology of victims of radon bed use' / Photo provided by the Citizens' Center for Environmental Health

[Environment Daily] On July 8th, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, under intense sunlight of 36℃, members from the Environmental Health Citizens’ Center, Radon Bed Victims’ Association, and Asia Monitor Resource Center held a press conference titled, “What we want from the Lee Jae-myung government - Investigate the health epidemiology of victims of radon bed use.”

Before the press conference, the group held placards with slogans such as “Epidemiological Survey on Radon Bed Users,” “Prepare Relief Measures for Radon Bed Victims,” and “What We Want from the Lee Jae-myung Government,” and laid out a large radiation sign on the floor. One participant performed a performance where he laid down on the “Radioactivity Sign Radon Bed” while wearing a gas mask and holding a radon measuring device called “Radon Eye.” 

Meanwhile, users of 29 types of 100,000 beds manufactured by Daejin Bed from 2005 to 2018 were actually exposed to radioactive radon. Daejin Bed and the Moon Jae-in government hurriedly collected the beds in 2018, but not all of them. According to the group, a user of the New Western Sleeper Daejin Radon Bed was diagnosed with lung cancer at Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital in March and underwent surgery in January 2025.  

Also attending the press conference that day were Seoul National University Professor Emeritus Baek Do-myeong, who has been emphasizing the human risk of radon, a class 1 carcinogen, and attorney Kim Tae-hyeon, who represents the plaintiffs in the civil and criminal lawsuits filed by some 5,000 users of Daejin Radon beds.

The group performed a performance where they wore gas masks, held a radon measuring device called 'Radon Eye', and lay down on a 'Radioactivity Sign Radon Bed'. / Photo courtesy of the Environmental Health Citizens' Center 

On July 3, the Supreme Court confirmed the second trial ruling in a damages lawsuit filed by 120 users of Daejin Radon Bed, ordering Daejin Bed to compensate the plaintiffs for mental damages. The Supreme Court also confirmed the ruling on the same day in favor of some of the plaintiffs in four damages lawsuits filed by other users against Daejin Bed.