Following the allegations that the late MBC weathercaster Oh Yoanna, who passed away on September 15 last year, was a victim of 'workplace bullying', a controversy has arisen over a social media post by a colleague weathercaster identified as the perpetrator.
Recently, a friend of the deceased posted on social media a past post from the presumed perpetrator, referred to as A, stating, “Hey, perpetrator 1, put on a show. Show it.”
Five days after the deceased's death, on September 20 last year, A posted on social media, saying, “After work, I get into my car and it all comes crashing down,” and “My small car in the underground parking lot is where I cry the most. I no longer know how hard my heart is or how far it has to go. I try to get better, smile, and tell myself, ‘I can do it,’ but the world sends another bomb as if mocking me. I just want to stop trying so hard.”
A also added, “I want to overcome, be strong, recover, and just find peace without having to move on. I feel like I’m a good person and living well, but did I do something terribly wrong in my past life? I don’t even have the strength to say I’m struggling these days.”
Moreover, on the day of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster at the end of last year, A posted, “My heart is so painful and devastated throughout the news preparation,” and “The words of each person can create hope and dreams, but conversely, they can also destroy a world. How about our beautiful words?”
The deceased's friend shared related posts, criticizing, “Doesn’t the death of the junior you killed hurt your heart?” and added, “So did you make fun of our sister and cause her death?” and “Isn’t this enough to be a psychopath?”
As the posts from the presumed workplace bullying perpetrator were made public, netizens reacted with comments like, “It’s a personal play profession, so what’s with the military discipline?” “They’re freelancers, so what were they trying to teach?” “You said to use beautiful words, yet you bullied someone to death,” “Who was the perpetrator?” “I seem to be a good person? That’s creepy,” “I hope they apologize to the deceased and the bereaved,” and “How much did they bully her…”
On the 27th, Maeil Shinmun reported, “A 2,750-character will consisting of 17 pages was found on Oh Yoanna’s phone, which had its password unlocked,” stating, “The will contained complaints about workplace bullying from two specific weathercasters.”
MBC stated regarding the allegations of workplace bullying against Oh Yoanna, “The deceased never reported her grievances to the responsible department or management while working as a freelancer,” and added, “If the bereaved request fact-checking based on the newly discovered will, MBC is prepared to start an investigation into the truth as soon as possible.”
The bereaved family stated, “We will not request fact-checking from MBC,” and expressed, “We hope they conduct their own investigation and broadcast a sincere apology.” They also filed a civil lawsuit against a colleague who appears to have engaged in workplace bullying in December last year at the Seoul Central District Court.
Meanwhile, on the 28th, Kang Myung-il, the emergency response committee chair of MBC’s third union, revealed through YouTube, “The deceased said she was bullied after appearing on tvN’s ‘You Quiz on the Block’ in 2022,” and added, “In particular, some weathercasters who led the bullying created and operated a group chat excluding the deceased and one of her peers,” drawing attention.
He also stated, “There are six weathercasters, but only four were in the group chat. It was essentially a group chat that ostracized two people,” and argued, “Isn’t this unacceptable? Isn’t MBC the largest broadcasting station? I hope they show how to treat, employ, and take responsibility for people as a large broadcasting station.”
Additionally, pointing out Oh Yoanna’s working conditions, he said, “In one year, the amount shown on the pay slip was 16 million won. That’s about 1.3 million won a month,” and claimed, “I understand the minimum wage is around 1.8 to 2 million won a month, which is an absurd salary.”
※ If you have difficulties such as depression that are hard to talk about, or if you know someone around you who is experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour expert counseling through the suicide prevention hotline ☎1393, mental health counseling hotline ☎1577-0199, Hope Line ☎129, Lifeline ☎1588-9191, Youth Line ☎1388, and the youth mobile counseling app ‘I’ll Listen’ on KakaoTalk.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
