President Lee Jae Myung delivers a congratulatory address at the opening ceremony of the National Fire Service Hospital in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung delivers a congratulatory address at the opening ceremony of the National Fire Service Hospital in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday celebrated the opening of the National Fire Service Hospital, expressing hope that the facility would become "a steadfast sanctuary that understands and treats you more deeply than anywhere else" for the country's firefighters.

Speaking at the opening ceremony in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, Lee said the state's foremost duty is to protect the lives and safety of its people. "And there are those who carry out this great mission with their whole bodies at disaster scenes," he said. "That is you — our fire service civil servants."

The National Fire Service Hospital, which formally opened in June, is the country's first specialized medical institution dedicated to firefighters. It provides healthcare for fire service personnel alongside public medical services for local residents.

Lee praised firefighters as "heroes of our people who stand in for the divine," describing how they charge into raging fires and collapsed buildings to save lives. "Because you are the first to enter and the last to leave those scenes of chaos — where dangers and threats are beyond measure — our people go about their days in safety and peace," he said. "I extend my deepest respect and gratitude."

He also acknowledged the personal toll the work takes. "I know well that behind your remarkable dedication and sacrifice lies the heartbreaking reality of each person enduring physical and mental suffering," Lee said. He noted that firefighters have the shortest average life expectancy among all civil servant occupations and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression at rates up to tens of times higher than the general public. "The very moment you leaped in to save another's life left deep wounds in your own body and mind," he said.

Lee also extended special thanks to the hospital's medical staff. "Treating the bodies and minds of our uniformed heroes up close — protecting heroes is protecting the nation and its people," he said, urging them to carry out their work with pride and a sense of mission.

He said the hospital would become a center of firefighter medicine by combining the clinical expertise of Seoul National University Hospital — one of the world's leading institutions — with accumulated data from the Fire Medicine Research Institute, enabling proactive prevention and treatment of occupational diseases.

Lee added that he expects the hospital to serve as a hub for regional public healthcare in North Chungcheong Province, which he called "the heart of the Republic of Korea." "The government will do its utmost to support the National Fire Service Hospital in establishing itself as a core national public hospital responsible for both firefighter medicine and regional public healthcare," he said.

He pledged to build dormitories so Seoul National University Hospital medical staff can work there on a stable basis, and to expand a firefighter medicine research and development center to advance medical innovation. "We will also spare no administrative or fiscal support to ensure a high-quality emergency medical system operates at full capacity around the clock," he said.

Lee said he is confident the hospital will use its advanced facilities and medical infrastructure to care for the health of both uniformed heroes and local residents alike, contributing to public health and balanced regional development across the country.


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