MBC weathercasters don black on 1st anniversary of Oh Yoanna's death

MBC weathercasters dressed in black in apparent observation of the first anniversary of the death of their colleague, Oh Yoanna, who had complained of workplace harassment before taking her own life.

MBC weathercasters dress in darker outfits on Sept. 15, the first anniversary of the death of weathercaster Oh Yoanna. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

MBC weathercasters dressed in black in apparent observation of the first anniversary of the death of their colleague, Oh Yoanna, who had complained of workplace harassment before taking her own life.

On Monday, weathercasters Lee Hyeon-seung appeared in a black outfit during the midday MBC News weather segment, Geum Chae-rim wore a black dress for the 5 p.m. "News & Economy" and 9 p.m. "News Desk" broadcasts and Kim Ga-young appeared on "News Today" in a navy dress.

The weathercasters, who typically appear on air in light-colored clothing, appeared to have chosen darker tones to mark the anniversary of Oh's death.

MBC also announced Monday that it was abolishing its freelance weathercaster system and introducing a new “weather and climate expert system.” Under the plan, only candidates with relevant academic backgrounds or professional certifications will be hired going forward.

Oh died on Sept. 15 last year. In a note written earlier that year, she disclosed mistreatment at work and wrote of her distress over workplace bullying. News of her death was only made public three months later.

In May, the Ministry of Employment and Labor concluded in a special labor inspection that “organized bullying took place within MBC.” However, the ministry said the workplace harassment clause of the Labor Standards Act could not be applied as Oh had not been classified as a full employee under the law.

MBC formed a fact-finding committee in late January. The broadcaster said it would release the committee's findings "if the parties involved in the civil suit agree." MBC has also reportedly terminated the contract of an individual identified by Oh as one of her harassers.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JANG GU-SEUL [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]