Officer dies in rescue amid staffing shortages

“Water is rising, so we might need a few extra hands.”

In the early hours of Sept. 11, just before he ventured alone into the mudflats to rescue a man stranded at sea, Coast Guard officer Lee Jae-seok relayed these words to his station team leader over the radio. No additional personnel arrived. Four officers on duty, who were instructed to take the required three-hour break, had slept for six hours, well beyond the mandated time, and the team leader did not wake them.

In the end, the 34-year-old officer gave his own life vest to the stranded man and battled alone in the frigid waters, sacrificing his life in the process. Senior officials, accused of violating regulations and attempting to conceal the incident, have been placed on standby and face disciplinary action.

But the issue cannot be resolved with heavy punishments for a few individuals alone. According to the Coast Guard’s “Medium-Term Workforce Management Plan (2026–2029)” released earlier this year, while the demand for rescue operations due to natural disasters and maritime accidents is steadily increasing, workforce expansion is not keeping pace. By 2029, the actual number of personnel is projected to fall short of required staffing by 1,792, more than 10 percent of the total workforce this year. This shortage places a heavy burden on frontline police stations responsible for public safety. Even in 2023, Coast Guard staffing was 199 below the standard, 179 of whom were assigned to local stations and outposts.

The situation shows little sign of improvement. With a declining youth population due to low birth rates, combined with frequent night and emergency deployments and relatively low pay and benefits, the Coast Guard is becoming a less attractive career. The extended rest periods at frontline outposts likely reflect this reality. Other uniformed professions, including police, firefighters, and military personnel, face similar challenges. With a reduced military force, the system of mandatory service police was abolished, leading to more frequent transfers of local police to Seoul, tripling over the past two years. Yet overall staffing has remained stagnant or declined. In Seoul alone, there were 4,626 vacant patrol officer positions in 2023. Exodus among officers with less than five years of service is also rising. Firefighter unions have argued that manpower shortages prevent adherence to the two-person team deployment principle. In 2023, a rookie firefighter in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, died after entering a fire scene alone. Investigations revealed that his safety center was three staff members short of its required complement.

Low birth rates and an aging population are expected to worsen these workforce shortages. Since the 2000s, birth numbers have plummeted, and this generation is now entering the labor market. Public safety fields are likely to face unprecedented staffing droughts in the coming years. Fundamental redesigns of workforce allocation and duty systems are necessary. If needed, patrol and dispatch hubs should be consolidated, and new technologies, such as drones and artificial intelligence (AI), which the Coast Guard has already used for nighttime drone patrols to compensate for manpower shortages, should be deployed to transform organizations into small but efficient “smart units.”

Alongside technological solutions, improved compensation and benefits for uniformed personnel are essential. As the saying goes, “A light pocket bends the back.” Pride and honor cannot be expected without fair rewards. Noble sacrifices prove only that the society and systems they serve are not noble enough.