Gyeonggi Fire Department's 'Fire Lieutenant and Fire Sergeant' Property Registration Obligation to Be Abolished

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] From now on, fire officers and fire sergeants, who are fire service personnel responsible only for on-site tasks such as fire suppression and rescue and emergency medical services, will no longer be required to register their assets as public officials.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 31st that the asset registration system, which had been proposed to various government ministries for over a year since early last year, has been accepted, and the Ministry of Personnel Management will implement the partial amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Ethics Act, which adjusts the scope of fire service personnel required to register assets, starting from the 4th of next month.

The Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters expects that with this amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Ethics Act, a total of 2,932 personnel, including 1,551 fire officers and 1,381 fire sergeants in the province, will be exempted from the obligation to register assets. As a result, the number of personnel required to register assets will decrease by more than half (56.7%), from the current 5,167 to 2,235. However, if they leave on-site duties, they must register their assets again, and employment screening will continue to apply to all fire service personnel at the rank of fire sergeant or higher, as before.

Until now, all fire service personnel at the rank of fire sergeant (equivalent to Grade 7) or higher were required to register their assets. Accordingly, there have been criticisms that imposing asset registration obligations on lower-ranking fire service personnel who only engage in on-site activities and situation management is an excessive burden compared to their authority.

Moreover, as fire inspection duties previously conducted at 119 Safety Centers were transferred to a dedicated fire special investigation department and the scope of work at 119 Safety Centers was adjusted to disaster site response, calls for amendment gained momentum.

Accordingly, the Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters began proposing improvements to the fire service personnel asset registration system to the Ministry of Personnel Management in February last year and has been continuously visiting the National Assembly and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission for over a year to urge system improvements.

The Ministry of Personnel Management accepted this and conducted a legislative notice for the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Ethics Act in March.