Investigation report on the Gwangju firefighter death case confirms forced drinking and suppression of internal inspection

The government joint public service discipline inspection team of the Office for Government Policy Coordination said that, as a result of investigating the case of the woman firefighter in her 20s who died in Gwangju last year, organizational misconduct such as afterwork drinking gatherings, coercion to drink alcohol, and ignoring requests for an inspection were confirmed to be true. The inspection team conducted an investigation for two weeks from the 11th of last month targeting the National Fire Agency, the Gwangju Fire and Safety Headquarters, and the Gwangsan Fire Station, and decided to request disciplinary action from the National Fire Agency for 17 public officials involved in workplace bullying. It plans to request an investigation into two former employees. According to the investigation, the victim attended 24 afterwork drinking gatherings over a 15month period from July 2024 to October last year, and some of the gatherings lasted until dawn. It was confirmed that superiors forced her to drink soju mixed with beer, made her use inappropriate forms of address, and even ordered personal errands. Although the bereaved family requested an inspection, it was revealed that the Gwangsan Fire Station effectively closed the case through its own internal selfinvestigation.