'Die fighting the fire': A firefighter's haunting post on what death is worth

Following the death of Fire Lieutenant Kim Jin-seok at a factory fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, a post circulating online claiming that a firefighter's death in the line of duty is "like winning the lottery" for the family has drawn a deeply personal response from a serving firefighter — one that laid bare the grim calculus his colleagues carry into burning buildings.

Baek Gyeong, the pen name of an active firefighter who has served since 2017 and is the author of the book "You Are More Precious," posted a piece Monday on the social media platform Threads titled "Die Fighting the Fire," writing in response to Kim's death.

Baek opened the post by recounting a remark someone had made: "When a firefighter dies on duty, the family wins the lottery. If 60,000 fire service civil servants pool their condolence money, it comes to 1 billion won ($720,000)."

"When a firefighter dies in the line of duty, fellow fire service civil servants collect condolence money and deliver it to the bereaved family," Baek wrote. "It is more money than a civil servant could save in a lifetime of work — enough to buy an apartment in the provinces, with enough left over to put the children through university."

"So among ourselves, we joke that if you're going to die, you have to die fighting the fire," Baek continued. "But that joke is not really a joke. It's a spell." Baek added: "Even if it's scorching, you go in. Even if you die, you die fighting the fire. Because if you die fighting the fire, your family will be taken care of."

Toward the end of the post, Baek wrote: "As you said, we are scratch cards that pay out 100 percent of the time. Thanks to that, we can squeeze out courage we didn't know we had and throw ourselves into the scene. Die fighting the fire. I recite the spell."

Online, readers responded with anguish. "A lottery you win by dying — your family wouldn't want that," one commenter wrote. "What a devastating world, that a serving firefighter has to say something like this," wrote another. Others added: "It's a job where you risk your life. This is just too sad."

Kim was critically injured Friday while battling a blaze at a factory in Ojeong-gu, Bucheon, and died the following day. His funeral was held Monday at Bucheon Gymnasium with full Gyeonggi Province honors. He was posthumously promoted one rank and awarded the Order of Service Merit with an Jade decoration.