April 1 Personnel Changes... On-site Response Focused on Nearby Areas Instead of Jurisdictional Regions
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] From April 1, all firefighters nationwide will be unified as national employees. This comes 47 years after firefighters were divided into national and local employees in 1973, and 8 years after the first bill aimed at converting firefighters to national employees was proposed in 2011.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the National Fire Agency announced on the 31st that 52,516 local firefighters will all be converted to national employees as of next month, April 1.
The nationalization of firefighters was promoted due to concerns that differences in financial conditions of local governments and the interest of local government heads caused disparities in firefighting personnel, equipment, firefighter treatment, and the level of fire safety services.
As firefighting duties have expanded beyond fire suppression to include rescue, emergency medical services, and national disaster response, there has been a growing awareness that the state’s responsibility should be strengthened. There have also been calls for improving the treatment of firefighters who work under relatively high-risk and stressful conditions.
Accordingly, the government established the National Fire Agency in July 2017. Seven laws to unify the status of firefighters as national employees passed the National Assembly on November 19 last year, and the related laws and subordinate statutes will take effect on April 1, 2020.
From now on, the term "local" will be removed from firefighters’ rank titles. Firefighter ID cards will be replaced within the budget limits of each city and province by the end of 2020, and until new ID cards are issued, existing cards will be used concurrently.
The nationwide firefighter recruitment exam will also be conducted by the head of the National Fire Agency, and the personnel management system, which is currently divided between central and local levels, will be integrated into a standardized personnel management system (e-Saram) to unify operations.
Most importantly, on-site response in firefighting will expand beyond jurisdictional boundaries. When a neighboring city or province’s fire station is closer to the accident site than the jurisdictional fire station, both the closer dispatch team and the jurisdictional dispatch team will respond simultaneously to ensure a swift response based on proximity to the incident.
Minister of the Interior and Safety Jin Young said, "With the long-awaited nationalization of firefighters, we must strive to provide stable firefighting services without regional disparities. Especially as all resources and capabilities are being mobilized to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and overcome this national crisis, I ask all firefighters nationwide to do their best on the front lines."
National Fire Agency Chief Jung Moon-ho said, "Since the goal of nationalization is to protect citizens’ lives from various disasters through close cooperation between central and local governments in a faster and more accurate manner, we will not lose our initial resolve and will continue to work hard."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
