It has been a year since late weathercaster Oh Yo-anna left 17 suicide notes and died. The bereaved family is still expressing outrage.
On the 15th, the YouTube channel BBC News Korea posted a video titled "Oh Yo-anna death first anniversary: the reality of freelance weathercasters, what has changed?" In the video, the deceased's mother visited the MBC building again on her daughter's first anniversary and appealed, "It has been 1 year since I lost my daughter, but I started a hunger strike because there is not a single person taking responsibility." She said she still cannot throw away the dress and shoes her daughter had prepared for broadcasting, and recalled her daughter trying to keep her job despite financial hardship and unstable employment.
The audio file the bereaved family released that day was particularly shocking. The deceased endured verbal abuse from senior colleagues while alive, and acquaintances testified that the broadcaster's atmosphere was "like a playground for bullies." It also emerged that Oh Yo-anna tearfully told her mother, "Am I that terrible? They say I'm too arrogant to people around me. They tell me to blame only myself for that," according to the recording.
The transcript included voices of seniors identified by name. One senior confronted her, "Are you that great? Am I your friend? Do you want to have a verbal fight with me on the phone? You should have apologized to me," and another senior described the organizational culture, saying, "This place has poor quality. It's a playground for bullies. You have to go along to survive. Otherwise you self-destruct."
The deceased suffered further attacks even after appearing on tvN's You Quiz on the Block. Testimony added that seniors publicly shouted things like, "What can you say after going on 'You Quiz'?" and "Why are you acting like you're MBC's representative when you've been here less than a year?"
Oh Yo-anna, who had been active as an MBC weathercaster since 2021, suddenly died on Sep. 14 last year. The news itself was reported three months later, and the bereaved family said Oh Yo-anna was bullied by senior weathercasters, received counseling and treatment at about 10 psychiatric clinics, and left 17 suicide notes.
MBC said on Newsdesk in May, "We take the results of the special labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor seriously and acknowledge the finding that there was bullying behavior. We deeply apologize to the bereaved family," and promised follow-up measures such as establishing a "coexistence and cooperation director" and introducing a system for reporting freelancer issues.
Nevertheless, on the 8th Oh Yo-anna's mother held a press conference in front of MBC's new building in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul, and cried out in outrage, "The actions of the seniors who drove Yo-anna to death and of MBC were so horrifying when I think about them. I was desperate at their shameless and mean behavior. I learned that they squeeze the blood and grind the bones of young women to make broadcasts."
She pointed to this case as not merely a personal issue but a "contradiction of the freelance structure." She said weathercasters were effectively working like regular employees yet lacked legal and institutional protections, left in excessive competition and instability.
As public criticism intensified, MBC announced the same day that it would abolish the existing freelance weathercaster system and create a new "weather and climate expert" system in the form of regular employment. Meanwhile, MBC weathercasters Geum Chae-rim, Lee Hyun-seung and Kim Ga-young drew attention by wearing black outfits while continuing forecasts to honor the deceased's first anniversary.
[Photo] SNS
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