Calls grow for improving labor conditions for firefighters

A firefighter looks up at the burning seven-story refrigerated warehouse in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. The fierce blaze, in which three firefighters were killed, was extinguished 19 hours after it started. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

There are growing calls for an improvement in working conditions of firefighters in the wake of the death of three firefighters following a warehouse blaze, Thursday.

Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, visited a funeral altar for the victims in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and expressed his condolences to the deceased's families.

"I have said firefighters work on behalf of God," Lee wrote on his Facebook, Thursday. "The country must work to keep them safe, as they are at the forefront of disasters protecting people's lives." Lee did not make any comment to the press during the visit.

Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, visited the funeral altar Thursday and wrote on his Facebook, Friday, "We will make sure that these kinds of firefighting accidents are not repeated.

"The firefighters deserve an appropriate level of support and compensation for their commitment to keeping people safe day and night," Yoon wrote.

Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party and Shim Sang-jeung of the minor Justice Party also paid condolences, Thursday, and pointed out the need to improve firefighters' working conditions.

There have long been problems and debates on the dire working conditions of firefighters here, especially the long working hours, lack of compensation and safety guidelines.

In April 2020, the status of over 65,000 firefighters across the country was transformed so that they are now officially considered as national public servants directly hired by the central government, instead of being treated as local government civil servants.

However, their conditions still have not improved since the transition, according to Jeong Eun-ae, the head of the firefighters union.

"Even after the firefighters became central government public servants, local governments still have the authority over personnel and budget control over them. In some ways, officials face more difficulties in terms of manpower enhancement, compensation and welfare than before," Jeong told The Korea Times, Friday.

Jeong also pointed out the need to improve healthcare and safety measures for firefighters.

"The average life expectancy of firefighters is six years less than that of other public servants. This is because we are exposed to stress and hazardous chemicals in disaster scenes, and there are more suicides than deaths from duty, due to post-traumatic stress disorder" Jeong said.

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