Fire Suppression on Inwangsan Mountain Also "Only Male Employees Responded"... 'Gender Discrimination Debate' Ignites

Controversy Over 'Male Employee Recall' Policy
Similar Cases in Daejeon Fire Incident

As local government officials were deployed for wildfire suppression and smoldering fire inspection tasks recently, it has been reported that only male officials were summoned in some areas, sparking allegations of 'gender discrimination' in certain quarters.

On the morning of the 2nd, at around 11:53 a.m., a fire broke out on Inwangsan Mountain in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Fire authorities were dispatched and declared the fire fully extinguished at around 1:27 p.m. on the 3rd, approximately 25 hours later. However, due to concerns that the remaining embers could reignite the wildfire, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and forestry authorities began monitoring for flare-ups.

Soldiers of the Army's 32nd Division are removing smoldering embers at the wildfire site in Seobu-myeon, Hongseong-gun, Chungnam Province on the morning of the 3rd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

It was reported that officials from the Ilbukbu division of Jongno District Office were also deployed for smoldering fire inspection duties.

The issue arose when claims surfaced that only male employees, excluding female staff, were mobilized during this process.

An employee of the Jongno District Office posted on the anonymous workplace community 'Blind', revealing messages from within the office, stating, "From 6:30 a.m., only male employees went out for the smoldering fire inspection." Comments expressing dissatisfaction such as "It is unfair that only male employees do more work despite receiving the same salary," and "Isn't this gender discrimination?" were also posted.

Post on the anonymous workplace community 'Blind'
[Image source=Blind]

This controversy was not limited to Jongno-gu. On the 3rd, Daejeon City also sent out an 'emergency wildfire mobilization' text message to summon officials.

However, in a second message sent that afternoon, it was announced, "Female employees on emergency standby at the wildfire site and those gathering are requested to return home," which sparked heated debate. It was also reported that only male employees were summoned for emergency duty the following day.

A similar controversy erupted in Daejeon as well. [Image source=Blind]

Some netizens criticized this as gender discrimination. Responses included, "Is there a law that only men must sacrifice in disaster situations?", "Isn't anyone capable of extinguishing wildfires?", and "There are many physically weak men as well."

As the controversy grew, Daejeon City explained through various media outlets that "since the harsh wildfire site involves work continuing into the night, it was judged that younger male employees would be more physically suitable." However, they admitted that the wording of the message was "not considerate."

The 'gender discrimination controversy among public officials' is intensifying. In March last year, the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters of Ansan City, Gyeonggi-do, also sent emergency duty notification messages to employees for wildfire suppression, which included the phrase "female employees below grade 7 excluded," drawing criticism for gender discrimination at the time.

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