On the first anniversary of the late MBC freelance weathercaster Oh Yoanna, her family expressed strong anger at MBC's response by releasing recordings that indicate signs of workplace bullying.
On the 16th, the YouTube channel BBC News Korea released a video titled ‘The First Anniversary of the Late Oh Yoanna: The Reality of Freelance Weathercasters, What Has Changed?’ The video included some of the recorded content detailing the difficulties and hardships Oh Yoanna faced during her life.
The video showed the late Yoanna's mother, Jang Yeon-mi, continuing a hunger strike in front of the MBC headquarters. She appealed, saying, “It has been a year since I lost my daughter, but there is not a single person taking responsibility.”
Additionally, the released recordings included voices of senior colleagues pressuring the deceased with remarks like, “Do you think you’re that great?”, “Am I your subordinate?”, “Anna, why are you so good, what are you?”, “Is a senior your friend?”, “Do you want to have a verbal fight with me on the phone? Were you sorry to me?”
In a phone call with her mother, the deceased tearfully appealed, “Am I really that terrible? They say I’m too arrogant around me. They blame everything on me.”
Jang stated, “The decisive blow was her appearance on ‘You Quiz’ (‘You Quiz on the Block’)” and also revealed messages exchanged between Oh Yoanna and a senior colleague. This senior said, “But how did you suddenly go on ‘You Quiz’? Without saying anything,” “Did you make a mistake on ‘You Quiz’? You didn’t say anything when I asked what content would be broadcast yesterday,” “There’s no shield, Anna. Why are you really going out as a representative?”
Meanwhile, on the 15th, MBC weathercasters Geum Chae-rim, Lee Hyun-seung, and Kim Ga-young wore black outfits while delivering the forecast to commemorate the first anniversary of the deceased.
In response, the deceased's brother, Oh Sang-min, expressed his anger in an interview with a media outlet, saying, “What kind of commemoration is this when they didn’t even come to the funeral?”
The deceased passed away at the age of 28 on September 15 of last year. The news of Oh Yoanna's death was only revealed three months later in December. Subsequently, a will was found on her mobile phone, raising suspicions that she had been subjected to workplace bullying before her death.
The deceased's family filed a lawsuit for damages related to workplace bullying against a fellow weathercaster, referred to as A, in December of last year.
In response to the allegations, MBC formed a fact-finding committee to investigate, and the Mapo Police Station in Seoul also accepted a complaint. The Ministry of Employment and Labor also formed a special labor supervision team to conduct an investigation.
In May, the Ministry of Labor announced the results of its investigation, stating, “There were repeated statements that were difficult to recognize as necessary for work beyond simple guidance or advice,” acknowledging the bullying against the deceased. However, they concluded that it was difficult to apply the ‘Workplace Bullying Prevention System’ as she could not be considered an MBC employee.
Subsequently, MBC decided to terminate the contract with A, but renewed contracts with the other three individuals who were suspected of involvement.
Recently, when MBC announced plans to abolish the freelance weathercaster system and introduce a climate expert system for regular employment, Oh Yoanna's family criticized the introduction of climate experts, stating, “MBC's announcement means that they do not recognize the labor rights of the late Oh Yoanna at all,” pointing out that it is an act of killing her twice.
They added, “The result of the hunger strike by the late Oh Yoanna's mother for the regularization of weathercasters is that her colleagues are being fired from MBC.”
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
