The late Oh Yo-anna. [Instagram]
The late Oh Yo-anna. [Instagram]

The family of the late Oh Yo-anna, a weather caster at MBC, has dropped its request to examine the two weather casters accused of bullying her as part of an ongoing civil damages lawsuit.

The family decided to withdraw the witness examination requests after the two accused weather casters repeatedly failed to appear in court despite summons, according to Star News on Saturday.

Oh's older brother told the outlet that the family had ultimately given up. "It seemed like they wouldn't come no matter how many times we asked," he said. He added that the October hearing had been postponed to November at the defendants' request, and that closing arguments and a verdict were expected at the next hearing or the one after.

The family had originally requested three witnesses: the two weather casters accused of harassment and a colleague of the deceased. The defense had requested a weather team producer as a witness.

The two accused weather casters did not appear for their scheduled examinations. One submitted a written explanation for the absence, while the other could not be served with a summons through public notice, according to reports.

The court fined the witness who skipped the June examination and reissued a summons. That witness filed an objection to the fine.

Examinations of the other witnesses proceeded. The session involving Oh's colleague, also a weather caster, was held behind closed doors, and the weather team producer requested by the defense also completed testimony.

The legal representative of one of the accused weather casters who did not appear told Star News that the client had been following the trial closely and planned to speak publicly after a verdict is reached. The representative declined to comment on the reason for the absence or the client's current circumstances.

News of Oh's death became public in December 2024, roughly three months after she died. Allegations that she had suffered workplace harassment prompted both MBC and the Ministry of Employment and Labor to launch separate investigations.

The ministry concluded last May that Oh could not be considered an MBC employee under the Labor Standards Act and therefore did not apply workplace anti-harassment provisions to her case. It did, however, say its investigation found conduct that could be characterized as harassment.

The family and MBC reached a settlement last October. MBC issued a formal apology to the family, abolished its freelance weather caster system and introduced a new meteorology and climate specialist system.

The hearing originally scheduled for October has been pushed back to November at the defendants' request. The family expects closing arguments to conclude and a verdict to be handed down at the next hearing or the one after.


min3654@heraldcorp.com