[Anchor]
The details of the suffering endured by a female firefighter in her 20s who took her own life after being subjected to forced drinking are coming to light. Investigations revealed that staff dinners lasted until 2:00 a.m., with the victim being pressured to down "bomb shots" (a mix of beer and hard liquor) in one go and even ordered to call her male superiors "Oppa" (a term of endearment). The inspection team has demanded severe disciplinary action against 17 firefighters.
Reporter Je Hui-won has the story.
[Reporter]
These are KakaoTalk messages sent to her fiancé by the late firefighter A, a woman in her 20s with the Gwangju Fire Headquarters, who took her own life last October.
The messages, which include phrases like "I had a team dinner and threw up 10 times" and "I begged them, saying I felt like I was going to die," clearly capture the agony she endured while alive.
According to the results of the joint government inspection team released today (June 24), the allegations of forced drinking and workplace harassment raised by the bereaved family have been confirmed as true.
Over the 15 months from July 2024 until just before her death, she was forced to attend department dinners on 24 separate occasions. Some of these gatherings continued until 2:00 a.m. the following day, with the group moving from venue to venue, including nightclubs and karaoke bars.
It was discovered that attendees were forced to down bomb shots in a relay-style drinking game known as "padotagi" (wave-riding). Furthermore, she was instructed to sit between male superiors and was ordered to call them "Oppa."
The inspection team also stated that the local fire station had effectively conducted a "self-investigation" by appointing the very official accused of the workplace bullying as the head of the internal inspection, thereby ignoring the family's requests for a proper probe.
[Lee Chang-seok / Chairman of the Firefighters' Union, KGEU: I believe this is an opportunity to completely reform the inspection culture and the closed-off nature of the fire department.]
These inspection results were released 12 days after President Lee Jae-myung ordered the Office for Government Policy Coordination to conduct a direct investigation on June 12. The inspection team has demanded that the National Fire Agency impose severe disciplinary action on 17 individuals whose misconduct was confirmed, and has requested a police investigation into two others who have already retired.
[Fiancé of A: I hope that instead of making unfounded allegations or criticisms, people will respect the facts and the results of the investigation as they are.]
(Video Editing: Won Hyeong-hui, Design: Park Cheon-ung)
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