DPK leader says Yoon should apologize over Itaewon crowd crush
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea attends a party leadership meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Oct. 27. Yonhap
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Friday that President Yoon Suk Yeol should issue a formal apology to the victims of last year's deadly crowd crush in Itaewon and visit the commemoration event scheduled for the weekend.
Lee's remarks come after the presidential office said Yoon will not attend the event marking the tragedy's first anniversary, saying it has "the tinge of a political rally organized by the opposition party."
The event, set to be held at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall on Sunday, is co-organized by a group of victims' families and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
"Protecting people's lives and safety is the responsibility of the government, and the most important duty of the president," Lee said in a leadership meeting of the DPK. "He should apologize...He must offer words of consolation to the bereaved families and victims unfairly affected" by last year's crowd crush.
Lee urged Yoon to stick to his promises of creating a safe society by coming up with measures to prevent the future reoccurrence of such tragic events.
The DPK chairman also refuted claims that Sunday's event is politically motivated.
"If both ruling and opposition parties participate, it cannot be called a political rally, can it?" he said. "Nobody can label it as a political rally, if the government's president officially participates."
The tragic crowd crush occurred on Oct. 29 last year, killing 159 people, as a massive crowd packed a sloped, narrow alleyway in the nightlife district of Itaewon amid Halloween festivities. (Yonhap)