The National Fire Agency will move to redesign audit and inspection authority. Six years have passed since fire officials were converted to national civil servants in 2020, but because audit and inspection functions are still operated mainly by local governments, criticism continues that they are "half national civil servants." The death of a Gwangju Metropolitan City fire official has also fueled debate over the independence and fairness of internal inspections within local fire organizations.
According to the National Fire Agency on the 23rd, the agency issued an emergency notice on the 9th on the national e-procurement system for a research project on "redesigning the roles of audit and inspection." The research period is five months. Through this study, the National Fire Agency plans to analyze differences and blind spots in audit and inspection systems by city and provincial fire organizations and examine whether it is necessary to establish unified national standards.
◇ Gwangju fire sergeant case criticized even by the president
What sparked this discussion was the death of a Gwangju Metropolitan City fire official. A fire sergeant with the Gwangsan Fire Station in Gwangju ended life in October last year. Afterward, allegations of workplace bullying were raised, but the Gwangsan Fire Station concluded "no notable issues" just a week after its own inquiry.
The Gwangju Fire Headquarters even stated in an official document that difficulties the deceased faced in a relationship with a fiancée were the cause of death. The bereaved family and the fiancée requested an inspection by the Gwangju Fire Headquarters, but no inspection took place for more than five months. An inspection began only after the family lodged a complaint in person with the National Fire Agency.
President Lee Jae-myung also directly addressed the case. At a Cabinet meeting that day, Lee said, "Have each ministry and agency thoroughly examine internal organizational culture so that talk of workplace power abuse never surfaces again." On the 11th, Lee also ordered the Office for Government Policy Coordination to investigate the circumstances of the firefighter's death and why the request for an inspection inquiry was ignored.
◇ Converted to national civil service, but audits and inspections remain local-centered
Fire officials were converted to national civil servants in 2020. However, in the field, a significant portion of budgets, personnel, and audit and inspection functions are still operated within the local government system. That is because firefighting affairs are defined under the Local Autonomy Act as autonomous duties of metropolitan local governments, and some appointment authority for fire officials is delegated to mayors and provincial governors.
As a result, both inside and outside the fire organization, there has been continued criticism that the command and oversight system has not been fully reorganized even after the conversion to national civil service. In particular, when internal misconduct or allegations of workplace bullying arise, critics say it is difficult to ensure independence and fairness in a structure where city and provincial fire headquarters conduct the investigation themselves.
In the notice for this research project, the National Fire Agency also cited as background the limitation in ensuring job uniformity and fairness due to the absence of audit and inspection authority. It also said it is necessary to establish national-level standards for audit and inspection functions to lay a policy foundation for a complete shift to national civil service.
◇ Check regional disparities in discipline and lenient dispositions
Through this study, the National Fire Agency plans to examine differences and blind spots in audit and inspection roles by city and provincial fire organizations. It will also look at whether inspections are structurally prone to delays or being watered down. It will review models suited to the fire organization by comparing audit and inspection systems of similar agencies such as the police.
In particular, it will analyze disciplinary records and appeals decisions over the past five years to see if there are regional disparities. It plans to examine whether, for the same or similar misconduct, the level of discipline varied by region and whether there was a practice of so-called "lenient dispositions."
The National Fire Agency also plans to analyze the outcomes of objections to disciplinary or disadvantageous measures. Through this, it intends to determine whether the current locally centered inspection system is functioning fairly and whether unified national standards for audit and inspection are needed.
◇ Discussion likely to lead to expanding National Fire Agency authority
Depending on the results of this study, there is a possibility that discussions will begin in earnest on the National Fire Agency directly holding audit and inspection authority or readjusting authority between the central and local levels. The key issue will be whether to maintain the current system in which inspections are conducted mainly by city and provincial fire headquarters, or to change the system so the National Fire Agency can directly inspect or direct major cases.
A National Fire Agency official said, "We recognized the need to overhaul the audit and inspection system even before the Gwangju fire sergeant case and have been reviewing related matters," adding, "Through this study, we will examine the possibility of expanding the National Fire Agency's audit and inspection authority and ways to improve laws and systems, and we will decide on the direction to pursue."