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A tribute posted online by the fiancée of a firefighter who died while fighting a blaze at a frozen warehouse in Wando, South Jeolla Province, South Korea, has been widely shared. In her post she wrote, “Even if I knew how our story would end, I’d choose you again. Thank you for giving me the happiest moments of my life,” and added, “I’ll come see you often. I love you—my husband-to-be, I love you.”
The fiancée of the late firefighter No Tae-young (30), who had been due to marry in October, posted on social media on April 16, calling him “so kind, almost foolishly so,” and saying that even “I love you” felt insufficient.
She wrote, “How hot, terrifying, and frightening it must have been. I’m still stuck on the morning of April 12,” and said, “I was told he was missing after he went out on the fire call. My chest tightened and my world fell apart.”
She added, “He used to say he’d be the first to go in and the last to come out, even if he had a family.” She said the only things left are memories of how well he treated her during their three years together, and that every moment they shared comes back to her vividly.
“If there were faults, I could blame them, but I have nothing to blame—only regrets,” she wrote, and she thanked the family members, friends, and colleagues who visited and reached out so he would not be alone on his final journey.
The post has drawn more than 1,300 condolences and messages of support. Commenters wrote, “We will remember him for a long time. Rest in peace,” and “Hearing she would choose him again even knowing the ending breaks my heart.”
At about 8:25 a.m. on April 12, a fire broke out at a frozen warehouse in Wando and firefighters rushed to the scene. After rescuing people, No Tae-young and Fire Sergeant Park Seung-won re-entered the building; as the flames intensified they became trapped and were later found dead by colleagues.
Authorities say Fire Sergeant Park, who died in the line of duty, was the head of a household with one son and two daughters. At the funeral for the fallen firefighters on April 14 at Wando’s Farmers and Fishermen Cultural and Sports Center, Park’s high school-aged son called his father “my hero and a truly remarkable man,” and vowed, “I’ll take care of Mom and my two younger siblings as the head of the family. I’ll be a steady provider like Dad—please watch over me.”
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