[Exclusive]'Accused of being the perpetrator in the case of the late Oh Yo-an-na' — A weathercaster undergoes secret witness examination, entering through the judge's room

*This content was translated by AI.

A weathercaster identified as a workplace harassment perpetrator against the late Oh Yo-an-na has concluded a secret witness examination.

According to a StarNews investigation on the 27th, a witness examination regarding A was conducted during the trial arguments in a damages lawsuit filed by the late Oh Yo-an-na’s family last August. The witness examination was held in private for approximately two hours. It is reported that at the time, A entered the courtroom through the judge's room door and quickly left the courtroom immediately after the examination.

The late Oh Yo-an-na’s family also decided to drop the request for a witness examination of weathercaster B, who was identified as another perpetrator. The deceased’s older brother told StarNews, “We decided to give up because it seemed they would not come even if we kept requesting.” He added, “The October trial was postponed to November at the request of the defendant side, and I expect the arguments will conclude at the next or the following trial, followed by a verdict.”

A and B had influenced the progress of the trial by refusing to respond to repeated requests for witness examinations. Previously, four individuals were selected as witnesses: C, a fellow weathercaster with A and B who was also a colleague of the deceased, and three others including a PD from the weather team requested by the defendant side. In this regard, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Collegiate Panel 48, which is handling the case, stated through the trial that “one of the two submitted a statement of non-appearance, while the other did not receive service by public announcement.”

However, the court conducted a private witness examination for C at the sixth trial session in June and also concluded the witness examination for the weather team PD in August. Immediately after the sixth trial session, the court decided to impose fines on those who failed to appear and re-served summonses. However, the witnesses in question filed an objection against the fine decision.

B’s lawyer, who did not respond to the witness examination, met with StarNews immediately after the trial and said, “We have been watching this trial continuously,” adding, “We plan to make a direct statement after the trial results.” The lawyer declined to comment on the reasons for non-appearance at the witness examination or recent updates.

The late Oh Yo-an-na passed away in September 2024 at the age of 28. Her obituary was made public three months after her death, in December 2024. Following this, allegations emerged that she had suffered workplace harassment from colleagues during her lifetime.

As the issue gained traction, MBC formed an investigation committee four months after Oh Yo-an-na’s death and stated, “We have decided to establish an external Jeon Mun-ga-reul (Chairman) investigation committee. We have conducted an internal self-investigation and plan to provide maximum support so that the truth can be clarified quickly. We will make every effort to reveal the accurate facts so that the pain of the family can be healed.”

The Ministry of Employment and Labor also formed a special labor inspection team in February last year in cooperation with the Seoul Regional Office of Employment and Labor and the Seoul Seobu Branch, launching a special labor inspection on MBC. While concluding that “weathercasters do not qualify as workers,” the ministry determined that “there were acts that could be considered harassment.” The Ministry of Employment and Labor’s recognition of workplace harassment came approximately eight months after the late Oh Yo-an-na’s death.

MBC issued an official statement saying, “We take the results of the special labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor very seriously,” and expressed condolences to the late Oh Yo-an-na and her family.

It further stated, “We will make our best efforts to prioritize the establishment of measures to prevent recurrence, improve organizational culture, and comply with labor relations laws as the top management priority.” The statement continued, “We take the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s judgment that ‘there were acts of harassment against the late Oh Yo-an-na’ very seriously and will immediately carry out efforts to improve organizational culture. Appropriate measures will be taken regarding those involved.”

It also added, “Based on the ‘Improvement Plan for Overall Organizational Culture’ previously submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, we are already implementing improvement measures. With this announcement as an opportunity, we will repeatedly check for any insufficient areas and make necessary improvements.”

Meanwhile, on the second anniversary of the late Oh Yo-an-na’s passing, MBC designated a week from the 14th to the 20th last month as a memorial week and established a memorial space on the first floor of the management center at its headquarters in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul.

Prior to this, on the 31st of last month, the late Oh Yo-an-na’s family shared news of the second-anniversary memorial service through her SNS account.

The family posted, “September 15, 2026, is the day that marks two years since weathercaster Yo-an-na left our side. We deeply thank everyone who has remembered Yo-an-na without forgetting over the past two years and has mourned with us and offered support.” They further stated, “Our family has spent difficult times striving to reveal the truth of the workplace harassment Yo-an-na endured and continues to pursue civil litigation today.”

The family also said, “Yo-an-na’s death revealed how serious the issues of ‘freelancers in name only’ and workplace harassment are in the broadcasting and media fields. We hope that young workers will never again suffer from workplace harassment, discrimination, and abuse of power.” They added, “We hope MBC will not forget this incident and will provide a memorial space to remember Yo-an-na. Furthermore, we sincerely hope that irregular and freelance workers will be respected and that the workplace will be transformed into one where no one is discriminated against.”

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*This content was translated by AI.