[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters is searching for Kim Il-nam, who was active as an air defense corps member in Hwaseong-gun, Gyeonggi-do (now Hwaseong-si) in the 1950s.
The air defense corps was an organization reorganized from the volunteer fire brigade, performing firefighting activities such as fire suppression, and considering the special situation of the Korean War, also carried out air defense duties to protect residents from enemy air raids.
The Fire and Disaster Headquarters recently announced on the 14th that they discovered Kim Il-nam’s resignation letter submitted to the air defense corps chief of Namyang-myeon, Hwaseong-gun, on October 31, 1953, in the oldest volunteer fire brigade duty log in Korea.
Kim’s resignation letter was folded inside the duty log book at the time. The full text of the resignation letter, written using both Chinese characters and Hangul, is as follows.
'Resignation Letter (辭職願書)
I, the undersigned, have been serving as a corps member for several years, but due to family circumstances at this time, I hereby resign and humbly request your approval.
To the honorable Air Defense Corps Chief of Namyang-myeon (南陽面 防空團長 貴下)
October 31, 4286 Dangi (Korean calendar), Air Defense Corps Member Kim Il-nam (防空團員 金日男)'
Considering that most air defense corps members at the time were young men, the Fire and Disaster Headquarters estimates that if he is still alive, he would be around 100 years old. The headquarters is also awaiting contact from his descendants if Kim has passed away.
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