'Sweet gig on W75m?' Firefighter's wife fires back: 'They catch snakes, remove beehives and get called for everything'

A post by the wife of an active-duty firefighter rebutting claims that firefighters are overpaid for their workload has gone viral across online communities.

On Monday, screenshots of the wife's response — posted on the social media platform Threads under a comment about a 12-year veteran firefighter earning an annual salary of 75 million won ($50,500) — spread widely across multiple online communities, including Bobaedream.

The original poster, who cited the 12-year veteran's salary, wrote that "more than half of all stations average fewer than one fire call per day for suppression teams" and left the implication hanging with a simple "hmm."

A woman identifying herself as a firefighter's wife, referred to as A, opened her response with an expletive-laced retort. She went on to say, "If you don't like it, why don't you pass the exam yourself and become one of those 'cushy' firefighters?" adding, "Too dim to think about taking the test, so you just flap your mouth?" — directing a string of insults at the original poster.

A rebuffed the criticism by describing the full scope of her husband's duties. "When there's no fire call, people say they're playing soccer or StarCraft," she wrote. "But even without fires, it's beehive season right now — they're out in this heat in full protective gear removing hives. 'Catch my dog,' 'catch a snake,' 'open my door,' install smoke detectors at elderly residents' homes — firefighters get called around like a punching bag all day long. Know what you're talking about before you open your mouth."

The post drew even wider attention as a massive fire that broke out at a Coupang Inc. logistics center in Incheon on Saturday burned into its third day Monday, raising growing concerns about the extent of the damage.

Online commenters rallied behind A, writing: "That one call that averages less than once a day could be their last"; "100 million won would be fine — find out how many firefighters have been burned fighting fires before you post"; "The absence of war doesn't mean we don't need soldiers"; "Given the trauma they carry, paying them more would still be justified"; and "Firefighters' salaries are the least wasteful use of my taxes."

According to the Ministry of Personnel Management's civil servant pay scale, a first-year firefighter receives a monthly base salary of 2.13 million won, while a 12-year veteran earns between 2.84 million and 3.47 million won per month depending on rank. The 75 million won annual figure cited in the original post is believed to include various allowances on top of base pay, such as hazardous-duty pay, overtime, night-shift and holiday pay, firefighting supplements, and rank-based stipends.