‘Never again such an injustice’: Lee vows to protect public on anniversary of Itaewon tragedy

President Lee Jae Myung vowed Thursday to never let people "fall victim to such an injustice again due to the absence or negligence of the state" during a memorial ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the Itaewon tragedy.

Some 1,000 people attended the government-led event at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul to pay tribute to those who died in the deadly crowd crush, including first lady Kim Hea Kyung, National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik and a group of bipartisan lawmakers, along with bereaved families and members of the public. 

The tragedy — which resulted in 159 deaths, including 26 foreign nationals from 14 countries — occurred in the Itaewon nightlife district in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Oct. 29, 2022. The official toll rose to 160 in June this year, when the government recognized the later death of a local merchant who had helped with the rescue as linked to the disaster. 

Many attendees wore purple, the color associated with mourning the victims of the Itaewon disaster, while others wore raincoats amid drizzling rain. Some attendees were seen weeping during a moment of silence for the victims.

"The autumn night should have been a night of joy, but it turned into a scene of terrible tragedy," Lee said during his memorial address. "That day, the state was nowhere to be found. Our belief that the state would protect us and our families was shattered. If the state had done its duty, that day in Itaewon would have been just another ordinary day."

“I will make sure that people never again fall victim to such an injustice due to the absence or negligence of the state. We must never again allow anyone to dishonor the victims or let the country repeatedly deepen the pain of grieving families who must live with the loss of their loved ones.”  

Since the crowd crush four years ago, the government has taken steps to hold officials accountable for failures to prevent the tragedy, which exposed shortcomings in crowd safety management, emergency response and the chain of command among authorities. 

Bereaved family members of the Itaewon tragedy victims and representatives of the Citizens’ Countermeasures Committee read a pledge during the memorial ceremony vowing to “keep asking questions until we uncover the full truth.”

Lee also noted a revision to the special law on the Itaewon tragedy passed last month and an extension of the mandate of the National Commission for the Investigation of the Oct. 29 Itaewon Disaster through September next year.

The special law allows a commission to investigate the causes of the crowd crush and identify failures in the authorities' response. The extension gives the commission until September 2027 to gather evidence, question officials and determine who was responsible.

Bereaved families are still seeking answers about what happened on the day of the crowd crush and why authorities failed to take preventive measures.

“We must clearly and openly uncover why rescuers failed to save precious lives that day and which parts of the country's systems failed to work,” said Lee Jeong-min, chair of the Bereaved Families Association's steering committee who lost his 28-year-old daughter to the tragedy. “Only by uncovering the truth can we honor the victims and ease the pain of their grieving families.”

Thirty-five bereaved family members of foreign victims also attended Thursday’s memorial ceremony, with Pascal Guenego of France, who lost his son, calling for the Korean government to uncover the truth of what happened on the day of the accident.

“We know that no words can bring our children back,” Guenego said during his speech. “But that does not mean we must give up trying to understand what happened. We therefore call for the truth about the Itaewon tragedy to be established with seriousness, independence and transparency.”

Guenego’s son was a 34-year-old chef.

In response to the tragedy, the government has also tightened its rules for managing crowds to prevent similar incidents, including passing a revision to the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety in December 2023, which requires a local festival expected to draw 1,000 or more people to establish a safety management plan from the local government head, even when there is no clear organizer.

The Korean National Police Agency also added “crowd management” as a category for 112 emergency calls in September last year, so authorities can respond quickly when large crowds gather suddenly.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]