“Firefighters really are a drain, earn twice the salary and are treated like heroes...” Civil servant’s post sparks debate [What do you think?]

[Financial News] Amid controversy over Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae’s remark that the fire service was a “financial drain,” an online user sparked further controversy by criticizing firefighters as “a drain” who receive high pay relative to their work attendance.

On the 25th, a post titled “Firefighters really are a drain” was published on Blind, an anonymous online community for office workers. The author, identified as A, was listed as a current civil servant.
A began, “They’ve just seized on one case this time. The line-of-duty death rate for firefighters is around 0.006–0.007%. That’s not much different from the 0.005% rate for general civil servants, including those in administrative jobs.”
A went on to claim, “The rate of deaths in workplace accidents among ordinary workers is 0.0098%, higher than that for firefighters. Even at the high end, the on-duty death rate for firefighters can be considered about average for other occupations. The line-of-duty death rate for police officers is higher, at 0.010%.”
A stressed, “Among corrections officers, police officers and firefighters, firefighters are the only ones who avoid desk duty. When there are no callouts, they’re getting paid for doing nothing,” adding, “It’s completely wrong that firefighters alone are revered.”
A continued, “My friend is a firefighter and stays up all night at a PC café before going to work to sleep. Honestly, I’m green with envy, and the public is being kept in the dark and treated like fools. Firefighters basically sleep like babies on night shifts and then head home, yet they earn nearly twice what I do and are treated like heroes,” expressing frustration.

The post sparked a heated debate online.
Some users voiced support for A, saying, “Go to a rural fire station— they’re all busy playing foot volleyball,” and “Their salaries really are high.” Others commented, “Just having the 119 emergency number always there for us gives us peace of mind and makes us feel safe. I don’t begrudge a single bit of the fire service budget,” “Do you think firefighters only put out fires? They do all kinds of things,” “Sign up as a firefighter and do it for just one year—then see if you still say they’re a drain on public funds,” and “Seems to me someone else is worse at taking money for doing nothing while playing around every day.”
This is not the first controversy over firefighters’ pay. Last July, a post on social media claimed that a firefighter with 12 years of service earned as much as 75 million won a year, suggesting the pay was high relative to the number of callouts, and sparked controversy.
Later, an online user who identified herself as the wife of a serving firefighter countered that firefighters do much more than fight fires, including removing beehives, rescuing animals and conducting safety checks for vulnerable groups. Supportive comments on the post said, “A firefighter’s work should not be judged solely by the number of callouts.”

Meanwhile, at the National Assembly Security and Public Administration Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province on the 13th, Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae said of the fire service budget, “The fire service seems like the biggest and most troublesome drain on public finances.”
Her point was that the funding structure was problematic: even though firefighters had become national civil servants, local governments still covered a substantial portion of related expenses, including personnel costs.
After the remark sparked controversy, Governor Choo apologized, saying she had not intended to disparage firefighters.
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