GWANGJU — Fire authorities failed to properly handle reports of workplace bullying and abuse of authority filed by a firefighter in her 20s who died last October, lawmakers said during a parliamentary audit.
Rep. Yoon Kun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea questioned Lee Oh-sook, head of the Integrated Fire Headquarters, at length on the 22nd about how the agency handled the death of the female firefighter at the Gwangsan Fire Station. The audit, conducted by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, was held at the Gwangju office of Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City.
The firefighter, identified only as A, died on Oct. 3 last year. In her fourth year on the job, she had complained of distress over coercive staff drinking gatherings and improper orders after a new team leader took over in August 2024, according to accounts of the case.
Yoon said at the audit that a superior had told A to "call me oppa," a familiar term a woman uses for an older man, and to "sit between the station chief and the division head." He also pointed to improper instructions including being mobilized for a funeral and sent on errands to fetch alcohol and coffee. "The victim and her colleagues reported these facts three separate times, but fire authorities did not properly investigate," he said. "The first report was closed as speculative, the second for lack of supporting evidence, and the third was not handled appropriately either."
The circumstances under which the victim's confidential counseling records were accessed and disclosed also came under scrutiny. Yoon said officials had requested the psychological counseling records from an outside provider, reviewed them and released only portions. "Didn't they leave out the material on abuse of authority and sexual harassment, and highlight only problems in her relationship with her partner, in an attempt to distort the cause of death?" he said.
The bereaved family has previously said that the Gwangju Fire Headquarters had recorded discord with her fiancé as the cause of death in documents related to A's death, then pledged to reinvestigate after the family objected — but that no internal inspection into workplace bullying was ever carried out.
Lee acknowledged the criticism. "The way the fire station went about confirming the facts was not appropriate," she said. "This is the first time I have seen anything like this in my career in the fire service. We recognize that there are many problems."
Lee also outlined steps to prevent a recurrence. "We have set up a separate fire service audit office within the Integrated Fire Headquarters," she said, adding that she is personally overseeing even minor matters. "We will do our utmost to make sure this never happens again. I am sorry."
Fire service funding was also raised at the audit. Rep. Lee Sang-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea said that with fire service budgets heavily dependent on local funds, any reduction in the fire safety grant tax could increase the financial burden on the new special metropolitan city.
Mayor Min Hyung-bae said institutional changes were needed to secure additional fire service revenue, including from the tobacco consumption tax.