In July 2021, the first female fire department chief in Jeollabuk-do was appointed in 28 years after the establishment of Jeonbuk Fire Service. Her name is Jeon Mi-hee, who has been in charge of firefighting since 1985. She has held various positions, such as the head of the 119 General Situation Room and Rescue Emergency Department Manager. She has attained a master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology at JBNU. She is a proud alumnus of JBNU, who has both expertise and practical experience.

The story of the firefighter does not start grandly. Flashing back to her undergraduate days, she said, “fate is not too far away from accident.” Her parents were civil servants and growing up she naturally decided to become a civil servant as well. Her fi rst recruitment of civil servant after her graduation was firefighter recruitment, and she rushed into the process. She successfully passed, thus beginning her life as a fi refi ghter. In the earlier days, she had a hard time with her career. She even considered retirement and changing her job. At that time, she was in charge of settling civil complaints, and the main task was to grant building permits or to grant permits for dangerous facilities such as gas stations. As she successfully carried out these tasks, she thought that she was playing a big role in the local community. She decided to continue down this path.

She replied that the most memorable position was when she was the head of the 119 Safety Center and the head of the 119 General Situation Room. In the former case, she said that the size of the incident could vary depending on how the head dealt with the incident. She also said it was memorable because she was able to see the diffi culties in personal. In the latter case, she said that it helped citizens prevent accidents by examining the tendency of events. The reason why we were able to look at various cases is that eighty percent of reports in Jeollabuk-do are handled by 119 general situation rooms. Now, she is the chief of the fire department in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do. When she was young, she had high selfesteem but lacked ability. She became a fire chief through constant study and eff ort to make up for her poor abilities. However, she said that she was able to succeed based on the eff orts and attempts of many previous women. She also added that she hopes to return to society and serve as an example for future generations.

Jeon Mi-hee, fire chief of Gunsan, visited the site of a HAZMAT(hazardous materials) business on July 2 and checked the fire-fighting facilities. Gunsan has unusual features compared to other regions in Jeollabuk-do. There are risk factors over land, sea, and air. In Gunsan, there are airfields, an air force base, marine vessels, and more hazardous chemical industrial complexes than any other region. Furthermore, there are many old buildings in Gunsan, which are vestiges of Japanese imperialism. In the process of being reborn as a tourist destination, new structures were overlaid on old buildings. Empty structures like this add to the risk. She is doing her best, like a control tower, watching over and managing these risk factors in order to minimize disasters.

Although the process of industrialization has enriched the economy, casualty frequency of unimaginable events such as the Sampoong Department Store Disaster and Seongsu Bridge Accident increased as the information age and the 4th Industrial Revolution began in the 2010s. As such, she applied for a master's degree because she wanted to learn about the tendency of accidents to occur during the period of change in society through industrialization. During the master's course, she wrote a thesis about modern social disasters and completed the master's course. Next, she completed the Ph.D. course because she wanted to study more about the direction of the organizations that prevent and manage social risks.

Closing the interview

she gave some advice to readers as a mentor. “Safety will become a bigger topic in the future society where we will live. Climate change and scientifi c development are making our lives more dangerous. In this situation, the demand for safety management organizations and human resources will increase, and I hope that students will pay attention to this issue.” She added, “even if you do not have a job duty to make safety, such as a firefighter, you have to be faithful to the basics and respond to fi eld changes. This is a shortcut and a straight road that minimizes disasters. As the saying goes, “No matter how fast the water fl ows, the moon does not fl ow together.” Also, she advised not to jump on the fl ow of time, but to live with your own rhythm that can live the world to its fullest.

Lee Won-jun Editor-in-chief, Park Jeong-cheoul Cub-Reporter