Appointment Ceremony and Meeting for 119 Foreign Language Interpreter Volunteers

The Chungnam Fire Department held an 'Appointment Ceremony and Meeting for 119 Foreign Language Interpreter Volunteers' in the fire department's situation room at the provincial office on the 19th.

With about 10 participants, including officials from the provincial fire department and interpreter volunteers, the event proceeded in the order of the appointment ceremony, commendation for meritorious service, and a meeting.

The interpreter volunteers appointed by the provincial fire department on this day are four individuals*, including Ms. Jeong-ja Heo and Ms. Su-yeon Bo, who are currently active as members of the Boryeong Women's Volunteer Fire Brigade of Boryeong Fire Station, and their appointment period is for three years.

*The appointment ceremony for 2 out of 18 existing active members was postponed and conducted together this time.

With this appointment, the number of 119 foreign language interpreter volunteers active in the province has increased to a total of 20, and interpretation is now possible in a total of 12 languages, including Nepali, Japanese, Cambodian, Thai, Kyrgyz, Lao, Chinese, Russian, English, Uzbek, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Additionally, at the event on this day, Ms. Hyun-ji Ma (Chinese) and Mr. Seong-rok Cheon (Russian) were selected as contributors to 119 interpretation activities this year and were each awarded the Governor's commendation.

The 119 foreign language interpreter volunteer system was established to provide customized fire services to foreigners residing in the province. The interpreter volunteers play a role in quickly and accurately translating emergency calls received at the 119 Comprehensive Situation Room through a three-way call system.

In the province, 1,786 reports from foreigners (an average of 593 per year) were received over the three years from 2021 to last year, and this year, 621 reports have been received as of the end of September, indicating an increase in demand for foreign language interpretation.

The fire department plans to review the problems and difficulties encountered during interpretation activities gathered at this meeting and examine various cases related to 119 reports to devise improvement measures.

Ryu Jin-won, head of the 119 Comprehensive Situation Room at the provincial fire department, said, "119 foreign language interpretation is a service to respond quickly and accurately to urgent 119 reports from foreigners and multicultural families in the province, and the demand is increasing as the number of foreign residents in the province grows." He added, "We will establish an organic cooperation system and strengthen situation management functions through regular meetings with interpreter volunteers."

Department in charge: Fire Department 119 Comprehensive Situation Room

Phone number: 041-635-5661