Male firefighter trainees who sparked controversy by posting photos of female trainees from the same cohort in a group chat and engaging in lewd remarks have been deemed unfit to graduate from the training course.
The Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters announced on the 22nd that at a recent graduation review committee meeting, it was decided that most of the 12 male trainees involved in the controversy were unfit to graduate from the firefighter training course.
According to the headquarters, last December, while receiving training at the Central Fire Academy in Cheonan, Chungnam, they shared daily photos of female trainees in an online messenger group chat and made multiple sexual remarks.
The Central Fire Academy, after legal consultation, imposed penalty points on them for violating the code of conduct for new firefighter trainees.
The penalty points were applied differentially, ranging from a maximum of 40 points to a minimum of 5 points depending on the degree of involvement.
The graduation review committee, composed of nine members including four fire officials and five external experts such as lawyers, reviewed the matter based on the fire academy’s investigation results and relevant laws and regulations.
The fire authorities plan to hold an appointment review committee this month to decide whether the trainees judged unfit to graduate will lose their eligibility as employment candidates.
If the review committee decides to revoke their eligibility, the trainees will lose their status as firefighter employment candidates and will have to take the next recruitment exam.
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