▲ President Lee Jae-myung reviews documents during a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic inspection meeting held at the Blue House on the 23rd.
President Lee Jae-myung criticized the death of a female firefighter who had reported workplace harassment, including forced drinking, calling it "the worst form of workplace bullying" today (the 23rd).
During a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic inspection meeting presided over at the Blue House today, President Lee mentioned the case and said, "I instructed the Office for Government Policy Coordination to investigate it a while ago, and it turns out that everything was true."
"How severe must the suffering of the deceased have been, how heartbroken must her boyfriend and family be, and how painful must it have been for them to have their pleas for an investigation ignored?" the President said, expressing his regret. "If you put yourself in their shoes, how could this happen?"
He continued, "The problem is that they don't realize how serious such behavior is," pointing out that "there is a tendency to think, 'It's just having a drink and spending some time together; a subordinate should be able to do that much.'"
He added, "That might have been the case in the past, but this happened recently. How can this be?" and ordered a review of the culture across the entire public service sector.
President Lee urged, "I ask each ministry, agency, and office to conduct an internal organizational review," adding, "Please take special care to ensure that such incidents never happen again."
Previously, on the 11th, President Lee addressed the case of a female firefighter who passed away last year on social media, noting allegations of forced drinking by the fire department and the dismissal of the bereaved family's request for an inspection. He had ordered, "Thoroughly investigate the cause and circumstances of the firefighter's death, including forced attendance at dinners and drinking, as well as the reasons for ignoring the request for an inspection. To ensure objectivity, the investigation should be conducted by the Office for Government Policy Coordination, not the National Fire Agency."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.