Late Weathercaster Oh Yoanna's Workplace Bullies Revealed; Family Seeks Justice

There is a lot to this story and I was unable to find just one article in English that goes over everything.

Oh Yoanna was a MBC freelance weathercaster and was bullied by 4 senior newscasters (her "sunbaes"). The bullying started when one of the newscasters was late twice so the company replaced that role with Yoanna. The bullying intensified when she was given the opportunity to appear on Yoo Quiz on the Block (popular Korean variety show).

In Korea, there are strict hierarchical rules that come from both age and job title. Yoanna being a freelancer and being young (passed at 28) would be at the bottom of this hierarchy.

Former weathercaster Bae Sooyeon has come forward and is speaking out against MBC's work culture and treatment of freelance workers. She has said, "It was the same when I left MBC. As a mere freelance weathercaster in their eyes, no one paid any attention to my voice. Not MBC, not the newsroom, not the weather team." This case has also caught the attention of major politicians, who are pushing for a major parliamentary hearing and are speaking out against the hiring practices and treatment of freelance workers.

Many people sympathize with Yoanna's situation, especially after the Kakaotalk (Korean messaging app) groupchat they bullies had was exposed. The reason this groupchat is available is because one of the bullies would screenshot their trash talking and send it to Yoanna. In the screenshot, they call her smelly (smells like alcohol), says she sucks at her job, and talks about her talking back to them which means they're the victims.

There are also screenshots of Yoanna's conversations with the bullies themselves that are going insanely viral due to the harsh bullying Yoanna endured.

When Yoanna passed away in September, the cause of her death was unknown, no internal obituary was posted, and the entire situation was swept under the rug and it has only come to light now because the family is fighting for justice. When she passed, she was found with a note in her phone that details all the workplace harassment she endured, equivalent to 17 manuscript pages.

One of Oh Yoanna's family members shared in the interview with 'Crime Chief,' that "On September 6th last year, at around 2 AM, I received a call. She was trying to jump off the Gayang Bridge, but an elderly woman passing by grabbed her hair, pulled her down, reported it, and the police came and protected her at the station. When asked, 'Why did you try to die?' She said, 'Work is hard. My spine feels like it's breaking, and my intestines feel like they are being torn apart. Life is too painful, and I want peace.' When I said, 'This is serious. We need to hospitalize you for six months with family consent,' she responded, 'I have broadcasts to do. I've signed ad contracts that I need to film... I won't die; I just did it out of anger.'.

There is another heartbreaking interview that Yoanna's mom did that reveal how hard Yoanna tried to make things work, how much counseling she recieved, and how much pain she was in.

Sadly, she would go on to have one more attempt and then pass away.

This is huge in Korea right now but currently, MBC is just investigating and the bullies are still at their jobs.