Oh Yeong-hwan (February 10, 1988) is a Korean

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

, essayist and politician. He first served as a military firefighter before being hired as a civilian firefighter in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

in 2010. There he worked at the Gwangjin Fire Station, the 119 Special Rescue Team, the Seongbuk Fire Station, and the National 119 Rescue Headquarters. After retiring from the fire service in 2019, he was named the 5th Democratic Party Recruitment Personnel in 2020.

Early life and education

Born in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

in 1988, he and his sister were born a father who was a lieutenant in the South Korean reserve army. After being discharged, his father experienced economic hardship, which put Oh's family into a difficult financial state before he had entered elementary school. While attending high school, he came to idolize firefighters as heroes. He joined the Korea Disaster Prevention Engineering Co. Ltd., a fire prevention hardware company, installing and repairing fire-prevention fixtures such as induction lamps and detectors. While in the military, He worked under the Haeundae Beach 119 Marine Rescue Team and Haeundae Fire Station, Busan Fire Headquarters. In December 2015, he wrote an essay called ''A Firefighter's Prayer'' which tells the story of his experiences as a firefighter and his hopes for a better future.

Meeting novelist Kim Hoon

Since high school, Oh had been a fan of novelist Kim Hoon's writing. Oh Yeong-hwan introduced himself to Kim at a lecture in 2013, and the two began correspondence. Oh sent Kim an essay; ''A Dream of an Auxiliary Firefighter,'' which tells the story of his childhood and military service as a firefighter. Kim later told Oh that his essay served as inspiration for his short story "Hands", published in the winter edition of Munhakdongne.

Career

* Rescue team, Haeundae Fire Station, Busan Metropolitan City * Rescuer, Gwangjin Fire Station, Seoul * Dobongsan Mountain Rescue Team, 119 Special Rescue Team, Seoul * Paramedics in Seongbuk Fire Station, Seoul * Fire Department Rescue Team

Personal life

He is married to Kim Ja-in, a professional rock climber.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh, Yeong-hwan Living people 1988 births South Korean firefighters Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)