Gyeonggi-do Fire Department Appoints Nation's First Female 'Fire Lieutenant Navigator and Fire Truck Driver Firefighter'

Firefighter Kim Ji-seul

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters has appointed the nation's first female fireboat navigator and a firefighter driving a large fire truck.

The Fire and Disaster Headquarters announced on the 1st that Kim Ji-seul (28), a firefighter in the female fireboat navigator series, and Lee Kyung-jin (30), a firefighter in the vehicle driving series, each passed the open competitive exam and were appointed as of December 26 last year.

Firefighter Kim Ji-seul is a rare talent with over three years of experience as a navigator, having graduated from Korea Maritime and Ocean University and served on LNG carriers at a shipping company, sailing across the oceans.

Holding a third-class navigator license, Firefighter Kim was appointed at the end of last year and is currently assigned to the Yangpyeong Fire Station's water rescue team, operating a 23-ton fireboat.

Firefighter Lee Kyung-jin

Firefighter Lee Kyung-jin, with over two years of experience driving large vehicles at a logistics company, took the recruitment exam and proudly became the nation's first female firefighter in the vehicle driving series.

Gyeonggi-do Fire also has four female rescue team members who are former special forces soldiers. They are Sergeant Gu Bun-ja (42), Firefighter Han Hye-su (38), Firefighter So Yeon-ju (28), and Firefighter Noh Soo-min (33). All of them are former non-commissioned officers and officers of the special forces. Sergeant Gu Bun-ja was hired in the rescue field in 2008. Firefighters Han Hye-su, So Yeon-ju, and Noh Soo-min are second-year rescue team members appointed in January 2022.

In particular, Sergeant Gu Bun-ja has performed rescue operations at major large-scale disaster sites, including the Pangyo ventilation shaft fall accident in Seongnam in 2014, which resulted in 27 casualties, and the Icheon refrigerated warehouse incident in 2020, which caused 48 casualties, as well as serving as a field instructor at the Gyeonggi-do Fire School after her appointment.

Jo Sun-ho, head of the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, "At last month's Gyeonggi-do Fire Workshop, female members requested not to be regarded only as women but to be treated as firefighters. Therefore, we will promote talent development policies based on capabilities rather than gender."