The late MBC weathercaster Oh Yoanna's mother spoke with Dispatch to voice her daughter's pain. 

On February 6, Dispatch released their interview with Oh Yoanna's mother where she revealed that Oh Yoanna had consistently spoken about the bullying inflicted by fellow MBC weathercasters. Her mother revealed that Oh Yoanna had named the perpetrator and spoken about them to her multiple times.

Dispatch revealed a voice recording of the phone call Yoanna's mother made to another senior weathercaster at the time of Oh Yoanna's death. The mother spoke about weathercaster 'A' and pointed out that Yoanna had much difficult time due to 'A's bullying.

MBC weathercaster senior: "Mother, what's wrong?"

Oh Yoanna's mother: "Yoanna has gone to heaven."

Senior: "What? Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What do you mean?"

Mother: "Last night"

Senior: "What do you mean? What do you mean? What are you saying?"

Mother: "She died last night. I'm so shocked."

Senior: "I'll let the company know. Where is Anna right now?"

Mother: "We quietly held her funeral. I can't put it into words."

Senior: "What do we do? What do we do? This is unbelievable. I can't believe this."

Mother: "I can't believe this too. I want her to get up."

Senior: "What do we do? What do we do?"

Mother: "I want to die with her. I can't live without Anna. My Anna is my precious child. I raised her alone through difficulty."

Senior: "Where can I go see her?"

Mother: "You can come in the morning. Or you can come in the evening. I haven't told anyone. But the company needs to know."

Senior: "Oh no, what do we do? Hold on. We have about 20 weathercasters."

Mother: "We need to let the department director know."

Senior: "I'll let the department director know now. Um, I don't know if we should come or not, what do we do?"

Mother: "It's okay, you can all come. I wanted to call you. Because Anna was so stressed and depressed because of 'A.' She said so many times she felt like dying."

Senior: "Oh my."

Mother: "She got addicted to alcohol when she didn't even have a high tolerance. You have no idea how heartbroken I was because of that. I always prayed every morning that 'A ' would find herself a good husband, so that 'A' would get married into a good family. I prayed so much that she wouldn't make my Anna suffer anymore. You know how much 'A' made things hard for my Anna."

Senior: "Was there other hardships Anna went through?" 

Mother: "There were other things. but she went to get treatment for depression."

Senior: "Was it severe? Because she was so bubbly when I talked to her recently."

Mother: "No one knew. Only I knew."

Senior: "Oh no..."

Mother: "Only I knew. She had a bit of depression."

Senior: "I didn't know she had depression."

Mother: "My daughter lived so diligently. She never sat still for a minute or even a second. She lived so diligently but she just left like this. Thinking about how my kind Yoanna isn't here anymore."

Senior: "What do we do... First, I'll let the director know."

Oh Yoanna's mother spoke with Dispatch and revealed she raised her son and daughter alone after divorcing her husband when Yoanna was in elementary school. She explained, "I raised Yoanna with all my heart. If she wanted something, I even went into debt to make sure she had it. That’s how I raised her…"

Her mother further explained that they were best friends and shared, "I had no secrets with Yoanna. We talked about work, friends, and even men without hesitation. We talked on the phone every day. Yoanna told me almost everything, so I knew how hard it was for her."

Oh Yoanna's mother mentioned weathercaster 'A' again. She said, "For three years, I constantly heard that name," and added, "When I saw Yoanna’s body, A's name came to mind first. I heard 'A’s name every day for three years. Yoanna would call me crying, and venting, and I would console her. But the wounds kept getting deeper. Her depression got worse..."

Dispatch also spoke to Oh Yoanna’s uncle, who is a current police officer. He said, "Yoanna took over ‘News Today’ after four months, replacing 'A.' That was the beginning."

In September 2021, A was responsible for the News Today (6 AM) weekday show, but she missed it twice. At the time, the team leader of the Science Weather Team decided to replace 'A' with Oh Yoanna. However, this was a setback for Yoanna. Moreover, in March 2022, the team leader who had chosen Yoanna moved to another position, leaving Yoanna to fend for herself.

Oh Yoanna’s mother also remembered March 2022 clearly. She shared, "I remember it as March 2022. Yoanna called me, and I could hear her breath hitching. 'Mom, I think I’m going crazy,' she sobbed. She said 'A' was making things so hard for her."

Oh Yoanna joined MBC in May 2021 and became the main weathercaster that October.

Her mother said, "It had only been six months since she joined. Of course, she was still inexperienced. I didn’t expect her to be perfect. But did she have to be pushed so hard into a corner?" 

Yoanna's mother revealed that in April 2022, Yoanna began visiting a psychiatrist at her suggestion. Her mother explained, "She said she couldn’t sleep because of 'A,' so I told her to go to the doctor. She visited various psychiatric clinics and was diagnosed with depression."

'Dispatch' obtained Yoanna’s psychiatric consultation records. They noted feelings of "shrinking when at work," "injustice at work," and "repeatedly apologizing during her workday."

News Today aired at 6 AM, meaning Yoanna had to wake up early. She relied on sleeping pills. If that didn’t work, she turned to alcohol as an extreme measure.

On August 20, Yoanna missed the show due to not hearing the alarm. Lee Hyun Seung covered for her. She was also late on October 18 and 28. Another employee went to her home to wake her during those times.

Eventually, Yoanna left News Today. Her friend questioned, "If she hadn’t been bullied at work, would she have fallen into depression?" The friend told Dispatch, "Yoanna fell into depression due to workplace bullying. She started using sleeping pills and alcohol. She became late, got scolded, and the cycle continued." 

According to MBC sources, Yoanna had been late or absent more than five times. They attributed the issues to her "lack of professionalism," blaming Yoanna for the problems.

Oh Yoanna’s mother again expressed her frustration with MBC's attitude.

Yoanna's mother explained, "She was using sleeping pills but still couldn’t sleep, so she drank alcohol. It was something she shouldn’t have done. On the other hand, I wonder how hard she must have been struggling."

Her mother retorted, "Do you know how hard Yoanna fought to live?  For example, she was working three jobs. She worked as a fitness coach at a health club in Sangam-dong. She worked as a fitness coach while also doing freelance writing jobs. Later, I found out she even worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant. She worked any job she could find."

Her mother continued, "I asked 'Why do push yourself so hard?" Yoanna’s response was 'Mom, if I stay busy, I can sleep without relying on sleeping pills or alcohol. I want to do well in broadcasting."

In 2023, Yoanna took vocal lessons. She visited an announcer academy for one-on-one training. To overcome her depression, she exercised, doing yoga and running.

Her mother said, "Yoanna kept trying. She wanted to be recognized by her seniors," but added, "But no matter how much she struggled, nothing changed." She continued "Yoanna didn’t actually want to die. I think she wanted to live. 'A' criticized her pronunciation, so she took private lessons. She spent the money she earned from her side jobs on self-improvement."

Her mother broke into tears again. She shared, "I told her to stop. But she insisted on continuing. She had a dream. But the reality was cruel. I think Yoanna wanted to show something through her death."

Her mother paused and continued. "She told you all, ‘I’m really struggling.’ Didn’t you hear me? Would you have listened if I died? I think Yoanna might have wanted to say that. Of course, the method was wrong."

MBC released a statement regarding Oh Yoanna’s death. MBC explained, "The deceased never reported her struggles to the relevant department (Human Resources, Audit Center), nor did she tell her supervisors directly."  MBC classified Yoanna as a freelancer, implying that freelancers are contract workers who need to fight for re-signing. They suggested that Yoanna lacked the courage to report her troubles.

Oh Yoanna’s mother shared this information with the senior weathercaster, telling her on the day of her death, "She wanted to die because of 'A'."

MBC stated, "Some articles claim that the deceased informed four MBC officials about her troubles before her death. If that’s true, could you tell us who those individuals are?"

Dispatch found the names of people to whom Yoanna had confided her struggles before her death. She had shared them with MBC announcers, assistant directors, producers, and weathercasters.

Oh Yoanna's family has filed a lawsuit against weathercaster 'A' for damages. The complaint includes phone recordings with the person involved.

Lastly, Oh Yoanna’s mother shared her final thoughts on MBC’s statement. Her mother shared, "I read an article that said ‘She worked for 8 hours and then came home.’ I cried uncontrollably. She didn’t apply to MBC for this. We all applied because we liked MBC. I don’t want weathercasters to lose their jobs because they’re freelancers too. If they feel responsible, they should apologize. MBC should also correct its mistakes. This is too much hypocrisy. Investigation? I don’t expect much. Will it bring my daughter back?" 

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