A heartbreaking letter written to her father by the 6-year-old daughter of the late Fire Inspector Kim Jin-seok, who died in the line of duty during a fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, has been made public.
Representative Song Young-gil of the Democratic Party posted the letter written by Fire Inspector Kim's daughter on his social media today (Oct. 18).
Beginning with "To my missing dad," the short letter read, "Dad passed away yesterday, but I still miss you so much. We are at the funeral home right now."
It continued, "I know. That dad loved me the most," adding, "My missed dad, let's definitely meet again later. By then, I will probably be an adult."
Next to the letter, a drawing of a fire truck was sketched along with the word "Dispatch."
Fire Inspector Kim Jin-seok of the Bucheon Fire Station in Gyeonggi Province, an 11-year veteran firefighter, was about to finish his 24-hour shift and get off work at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the fire.
However, upon hearing the news of the fire at 8:38 a.m., he boarded a fire engine, immediately entered the building, and began firefighting operations. As the flames spread in an instant, two people, including Fire Inspector Kim, were trapped inside.
The colleague who entered with him was narrowly rescued, but Fire Inspector Kim was found in a state of cardiac arrest 27 minutes later, about 5 meters deeper inside than his colleague.
To pay full respect to Fire Inspector Kim, the government posthumously promoted him one rank from Senior Firefighter to Fire Inspector and awarded him the Okjo Order of Service Merit.
Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
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