By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-28 05:36:24 | Updated at 2025-03-31 04:27:39
2 days ago
A mayor in South Korean has sparked outrage by blaming female employees for difficulties in suppressing devastating wildfires that have plagued the country.
The remark was made by Kim Doo-gyeom, mayor of Ulsan in southeastern Korea, during a wildfire briefing in the city on Tuesday.
“There are limitations on the number of public officials we can mobilise when a wildfire breaks out in the region,” he said as quoted by The Korea Herald. “And nowadays, there are many female employees, so it is not easy to send them into rugged mountain areas.”
He also mentioned that 500 military personnel had been deployed to help with firefighting, expressing gratitude to them.
Kim’s words drew widespread outrage on social media.
“If it is difficult to put out the fire because there are too many female employees, I hope the mayor of Ulsan, who is a strong man, will take the lead and go put out the fire himself!” a user wrote on the city government’s official bulletin board site.
