7 of 9 school cafeteria workers at Wonju elementary school show lung nodules

Yong Jeong-sun, a member of the Gangwon Special Self-Governing Provincial Assembly's education committee, called Tuesday for a full overhaul of ventilation systems at the cafeteria of Bangok Elementary School in Wonju and demanded that the provincial education office establish a proper health protection framework for cafeteria workers. Yong raised the issue during the 2026 administrative audit of the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education's policy bureau, pressing officials on whether follow-up examinations and post-screening management are being carried out after lung cancer screenings for school cafeteria workers.

"The education office has been conducting lung cancer screenings for school cafeteria workers since 2022, but it is unclear whether the necessary follow-up examinations are being carried out in a timely manner after abnormal findings are detected, or whether the results are being tracked consistently," Yong said. "Health screenings should not end at the detection of abnormal findings — they must extend to ensuring that workers receive the necessary treatment and a safe working environment."

Yong visited the cafeteria at Bangok Elementary School on Nov. 2 to conduct an in-depth assessment, meeting with school officials and cafeteria workers on-site.

According to data submitted by the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education, 9 of the school's 11 cafeteria workers underwent health screenings, and 7 of those 9 were found to have pulmonary nodules.

"We should not immediately equate pulmonary nodules with lung cancer, nor should we presume that working in the cafeteria is the cause," Yong said. "What matters is whether the education office has a responsible management system in place to ensure that workers with abnormal findings receive additional examinations at the appropriate time and can continue working safely."

Health screening records at Bangok Elementary School show that some workers' results are listed only as "nodule finding in 2023, nodule finding in 2026," raising questions about whether follow-up examinations were conducted in the intervening years of 2024 and 2025.

The provincial education office said it covers follow-up examination costs for workers with abnormal findings who request support, while diagnostic test costs must be paid out of pocket first and reimbursed upon submission of a diagnosis certificate and receipts. Follow-up and diagnostic examinations are also not classified as official leave, and workers are advised to schedule screenings during school vacation periods.

Yong said this approach is problematic because it relies on individual workers to apply for support and front the costs themselves. The 2024 screening plan designated workers who wished to participate from among 549 people who had shown positive or borderline nodule findings in 2023 as eligible for follow-up examinations, but the actual number who received screenings that year, according to data submitted by the education office, was 210.

"We first need to clarify exactly what the relationship is between the 549 and the 210, and whether workers who did not receive examinations were individually notified and followed up with," Yong said. "The fact that screening costs were subsidized cannot be considered sufficient to fulfill the duty of post-screening care." Yong added that the education office must verify whether follow-up examinations were completed, determine why some workers did not receive them, and establish a system that publicly covers the time and costs required.

Yong also flagged as areas requiring improvement the exclusion of fixed-term workers from health screening eligibility, and the removal of retired workers from the 2025 screening plan after they had been included in 2024.

Bangok Elementary School upgraded its ventilation system during a 2021 renovation, but a ventilation performance inspection conducted July 24, 2023, found that all 13 exhaust hoods failed velocity standards, with additional problems identified including insufficient blower airflow and disruptive air currents.

However, while improvement records on hazardous risk factors submitted by the education office show corrective measures related to gas, fire and musculoskeletal issues, it remains unclear how the ventilation problems identified at that time were addressed.

"It is a serious problem that the follow-up measures taken after ventilation issues were confirmed in 2023 cannot be verified," Yong said. "While we cannot draw a direct causal link between the pulmonary nodule findings and the ventilation problems, swift and proactive action is needed to protect workers' health." The provincial education office said it plans to complete upgrades at Bangok Elementary School by the end of November, including improvements to blowers, ducts and air supply systems, installation of airflow guide panels, and replacement of cooking equipment.

"We can no longer look away from the reality that cafeteria workers set aside their own health out of concern for the children's meals," Yong said. "For students to receive safe school lunches, the workers who prepare those meals must first be able to work in a healthy and safe environment." Yong added that the success of cafeteria worker health screenings should be measured not by how many people were tested or how much funding was provided, but by whether any worker with an abnormal finding missed a necessary examination. "The Bangok Elementary School case should serve as an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of follow-up examination and post-screening management systems for all cafeteria workers across Gangwon Province, and to push through ventilation improvements with a full sense of responsibility," Yong said.