First female fire inspector since government was established... Lee O-sook, spokesperson for the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, selected for the role - Korean media

The first female fire inspector has been appointed since the establishment of the Korean government. Lee O-sook, head of the Jeonbuk Fire Department, was promoted to fire inspector, the highest rank in the fire service, in a personnel decision made on the 27th, making her the first woman to do so.
The rank of fire inspector is equivalent to a commissioner (2nd class) for general civil servants and a public order inspector for the police, and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has a maximum of six fire inspectors, and the Fire and Disaster Management Agency has a maximum of 10 fire inspectors.
Since the establishment of the Korean government in 1948, Chief Lee O-suk has been the first woman to hold a higher rank than fire superintendent among fire service officials.
In 1988, when he was a fourth-year student majoring in public administration at Hannam University, Chief Lee O-suk of Buyeo City, Chungcheongnam-do, joined the Daejeon Fire Department through an open recruitment program for firefighters.
He was assigned to the Daejeon Fire Department and has worked at the National Fire and Disaster Management Agency since 2009. He has served as head of the emergency quality section at the National Fire and Disaster Management Agency, chief of the Daegu Northern Fire Station, head of the COVID-19 Virus Emergency Response Section at the National Fire and Disaster Management Agency, and head of the Gangwon-do Fire Department.
He has held key positions including director of the Fire Academy in Gangwon Province and spokesman for the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. In particular, he served as director of the 119 Safety Center in Gungdong, Daejeon Bukbu Fire Station for three years from 2002.
In 2018, she was appointed chief of Daegu North Fire Station, breaking the record for the youngest female fire station chief. Since the COVID-19 virus outbreak, she has been the head of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency's COVID-19 infection control for about three years.
She served as head of the National Fire Agency's emergency response division and took the lead in ensuring the safety of the public and protecting emergency workers. Last year, she was appointed spokesperson for the National Fire Agency, its first female member.
His appointment as Fire Commissioner was in recognition of his excellent crisis management skills as a spokesperson and his communication skills within the organization.
In addition, the department was recognized for its innovative public relations efforts to convey key firefighting policies and field information to the public in a variety of formats in response to the changing media environment.
He was also recognized for making a significant contribution to improving the image of fire services both domestically and internationally, through such measures as strengthening policy explanations to firefighters and organizing foreign press tours.
"For the safety of our citizens, we cannot neglect either the field or policy," said Lee O-sook.
"I will protect the safety of the people of Jeollabuk-do and my colleagues engaged in firefighting activities with a greater sense of responsibility, and do my best to create a 'reliable fire department that is close to the people.'"