[Sportschosun, Reporter Jung Bit] Two years have passed since Oh Yoanna, a late weathercaster at MBC, passed away.
Today, September 15, marks two years since the late Oh Yoanna passed away. To mark her second death anniversary, MBC designated the week from September 14 through September 20 as a memorial week. It also set up a memorial space on the first floor of the Management Center at its headquarters in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul, to honor her.
MBC said the memorial space “will serve as a place to honor the deceased, remember the time we shared, and share our condolences.”
The late Oh Yoanna passed away on September 15, 2024. She was 28. News of her death was not reported until about three months later, in December of the same year.
Later, a 17-manuscript-page suicide note, recordings, and messages were found on her mobile phone, prompting allegations that she had been bullied at work during her lifetime. The suicide note reportedly contained statements suggesting that she had been harassed by some fellow weathercasters.
The bereaved family called for the truth to be established and demanded an official apology from MBC. As the controversy grew, MBC formed a fact-finding committee and launched its own investigation. It later abolished the freelance weathercaster system and introduced a weather and climate expert system, transitioning to regular employment. MBC also presented the late Oh with an honorary employee ID card.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) also conducted a special labor inspection of MBC. The investigation concluded that the late Oh had been subjected to harassment that exceeded the appropriate scope of work. However, it determined that she was difficult to classify as an employee under the Labor Standards Act and therefore did not apply the Act’s prohibition on workplace harassment.
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
