Five People Including Citizen Who Subdued Weapon Rampage Perpetrator Selected as 'POSCO Heroes'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] The POSCO Cheongam Foundation has selected five individuals, including citizens who subdued a knife-wielding assailant and protected their neighbors, as well as firefighters who saved drowning victims, as 'POSCO Heroes.'

On the 31st, the POSCO Cheongam Foundation announced that it had selected Jeong Gukwan (41), Kim Yujin (43), Kim Jaewon (41), who ran into a burning building to evacuate residents and prevent casualties, and firefighters Kang Taewoo (29) and Kim Jimin (29), who rescued people in danger of drowning at sea, as POSCO Heroes, and presented them with plaques and scholarships on the 29th.

Jeong Gukwan and Kim Yujin rushed into the scene of a knife attack that occurred in an apartment hallway on the 16th of this month, subdued the assailant, and rescued the victim. Around 10 p.m. that night, Jeong Gukwan ran outside his home after hearing screams from the apartment hallway and saw a man wielding a knife threatening a woman. Without hesitation, Jeong charged at the assailant, disarmed him, and subdued him, but the assailant picked up the broken blade and lunged at the woman again.

Jeong chased and subdued the assailant once more and called for help. At that moment, neighbor Kim Yujin, who heard the commotion, joined in and took the blade from the assailant’s hand. After reporting to the police, they handed the assailant over to the authorities. The victim was unconscious and taken to the hospital but has since regained consciousness.

Kim Jaewon, also selected as a POSCO Hero, evacuated all residents from a burning building on the 5th of last month, preventing casualties. Around 8 p.m. that evening near Sangnok-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, Kim Jaewon, who was working at his chicken restaurant, noticed a smoky smell and went outside to check. He saw smoke rising from a first-floor shop in the adjacent building and immediately called 119. While people in other first-floor shops evacuated quickly, residents on the 2nd, 3rd floors, and rooftop were unaware of the fire. Kim broke down the locked entrance door of the burning building, went inside, and alerted each household by ringing doorbells to evacuate. While residents were evacuating, the smoke rapidly spread upstairs, and the first-floor shop where the fire started was completely destroyed.

Firefighter couple Kang Taewoo and Kim Jimin saved a drowning victim and performed CPR to save a life. On the 18th of last month, while walking along the beach at Waemok Village beach in Dangjin, Chungnam, they heard urgent cries that someone had fallen into the sea. Looking toward the sea, only a tube was visible in the distance. Judging the situation as urgent, Kang immediately jumped into the sea without hesitation. He swam about 20 meters and safely rescued the woman from the water to the shore, but she was in critical condition without consciousness or breathing.

At that moment, Kim Jimin, a 119 paramedic at Dangjin Fire Station and Kang’s wife, quickly performed CPR, and shortly after, the drowning victim began breathing and regained consciousness. Despite being heavily pregnant and recently on medical leave due to poor health, Kim risked her own safety to save a life.

The POSCO Heroes Fellowship is a program established in 2019 to support heroes who have sacrificed themselves for the nation and social justice or their children to continue their studies stably. To date, a total of 62 POSCO Heroes have been selected. The POSCO Cheongam Foundation plans to actively discover public officials and citizens who serve as social role models, raise social awareness of righteous actions, and lead efforts to create a just society where people help each other even in difficult situations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.