Nearly 3 in 4 South Korean firefighters have health issues, with a suicide rate higher than the national average, data showed Wednesday.
According to data from the National Fire Agency revealed by Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, more than half of the health issues were job-related. The suicide rate among firefighters stood at 31.5 per 100,000 while the national average came to 25.2 per 100,000.
The data is based on medical examinations of 66,609 fire officials across the country, which showed that 49,232 had health issues. Of those with health problems, 31,997 were categorized as needing additional observation and management from medical experts.
A total of 6,100 had diseases caused directly from their work as firefighters and 36,063 had job-related health issues.
Chung's report assessed results of regular checkups between 2020 and 2024, which showed that the percentage of fire officials with health issues stayed roughly in the same range, moving from 72.9 percent in 2020 to 69 percent in 2021, 72.8 percent in 2022, 71.8 percent in 2023 and 73.9 percent in 2024.
The data showed an increasing number of firefighters are seeking psychological help via therapy. The state-funded therapy service was used 48,026 times in 2020, which increased by 65 percent to 79,453 times in 2024.
Last month, it was found that two of the firefighters dispatched to the deadly 2022 crowd crush in Itaewon in central Seoul had died by suicide. Victims experienced trauma from seeing death and pain from the tragedy, which left 159 dead and 195 injured.
"With bigger and more complex tragedies occurring, firefighters have no choice but to face the horrible sights as first responders," Chung said, urging state-level measures such as mandating detailed health examinations of firefighters and deploying medical experts in the early stages.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
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