President Lee Jae Myung paid tribute Saturday to firefighter Kim Jin-seok, who died after being critically injured while fighting a factory fire in Bucheon, west of Seoul. At the funeral hall of Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Lee offered incense, observed a moment of silence and posthumously awarded Kim the Okjo Order of Service Merit. He also met the firefighterโ€™s family and expressed condolences.

Lee wrote in the memorial book that the public would forever remember Kimโ€™s sacrifice and the safe daily life he helped protect. According to accounts of the visit, the president fell silent after learning that Kim had left behind a seven-year-old daughter. Lee was accompanied by senior government and fire officials, including the interior minister and the head of the National Fire Agency.

A final call before the end of his shift

Kim was injured while responding to a fire at a metal processing and printing factory in Nae-dong, Ojeong District, on Friday morning. He was taken to a hospital in cardiac arrest and died early Saturday while receiving treatment. Another firefighter was seriously injured, and reports said several people were hurt in the blaze. The fire was extinguished about two hours and 28 minutes after it began.

Location
Nae-dong, Ojeong District, Bucheon
Incident
Fire at a metal processing and printing factory
Fatality
Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok, posthumously promoted
Investigation
Joint inspection by police, fire and technical agencies

Kim and another firefighter were reported to have arrived among the first crew dispatched to the factory. Kim, an 11-year fire service veteran, had been due to finish his shift roughly 20 minutes later. He was posthumously promoted by one rank, from senior firefighter to fire lieutenant, and his funeral is being conducted as a Gyeonggi provincial government funeral.

Investigators are examining whether flammable vapor from thinner ignited in a third-floor cleaning area. Police, fire authorities, the National Forensic Service and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation conducted a joint inspection Saturday, concentrating on the area where metal products were cleaned and transferred. Investigators were reported to be considering static electricity or frictional heat as possible sources of a spark.

Chemical vapor and safety controls under scrutiny

Authorities also found that the work area lacked explosion-protected equipment or related safety installations, according to local reporting on the inspection. That finding places the handling and ventilation of volatile chemicals at the center of the inquiry, although investigators have not announced a final cause. The examination must determine how vapor accumulated, what ignited it and whether required safeguards were installed and operating.

Kimโ€™s family has called for a thorough investigation into the command and rescue response, raising questions about why he was sent into danger shortly before the end of his shift and how the operation was managed. Those concerns remain allegations requiring official review. The investigation therefore extends beyond the point of ignition to the decisions, equipment and procedures that shaped firefightersโ€™ exposure inside the factory.

The case has prompted condolences across political lines and renewed scrutiny of protections for firefighters entering industrial sites where combustible liquids are used. The next official findings will be important for separating the factoryโ€™s safety failures from any shortcomings in operational command. They will also determine whether administrative or criminal responsibility follows and whether fire-service procedures or industrial safety requirements need to change.