"Are you going to throw yourself into the river or you jumped already?" "I am just saying it is amazing how you can call while swimming in the middle of the river late at night." These are what 119 call center said to the woman who threw herself into the Han River.

▲ 119 call center ignored the woman who threw herself into Han River.

On November 27, a woman called the emergency services. She asked to be rescued after she jumped into Han River. The rescue workers moved out to find her, but they could not. They called off the search in twenty minutes flat. They did not search even after the dawn broke. The emergency teams said they could not identify the scene that she threw herself when they dispatched. When the bereaved family complaint and filed a civil complaint, at last, those days CCTV after one month from the accident and found her drown herself in a river. More surprisingly, the 119 center made sarcastic remarks to her. When she called to the 119 center she said that she was in the Han River at that very moment. The 119 call center asked who is in the river because he could not believe someone was calling in the river. She was asked on how could she speak so eloquently while she was in the river. He asked again in spite of repeated rescue requests. He asked if she is going to throw herself into the river or she had jumped already. She continued to talk. She said that it is not a prank calling. However, 119 call center's answered was the same. He said that he was amazed at how she could call while swimming in the middle of the river late at night.

▲ She said it is not a prank calling, 119 center`s answer was the same.

The 119's explanation about the situation was exceptional. However, netizens got angry because of the 119 call center's lackadaisical attitude. They asked for the reorganize receipt of report center's response system. Also, they pointed out that we should reinforce punishment of a prank call and a false return to stop this tragedy. Lackadaisical attitude and false return caused this terrible tragedy.

▲ We should reinforce punishment of a prank call to stop this tragedy.

January 12th, 2019

By Pyo Seung Hui