By Kim Se-jeong
The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday released a white paper on the 2009 Yongsan Disaster, a violent clash between riot police and district residents over an urban redevelopment project east of Sinyongsan Station.
Five residents and one police officer were killed when a fire broke out during a daring rooftop police raid.
The white paper came out on the eve of the incident’s eighth anniversary, which occurred early Jan. 20, 2009. Mayor Park Won-soon invited families of the victims to the city hall, Thursday, for a ceremony honoring the white paper.
“The only way to prevent the same disaster from happening again is to look closely into what happened,” the mayor said, explaining why the city took up the project, which took two years to complete.
The authors conducted more than 50 interviews and looked through more than 9,000 photographs and videos and 10,000 relevant documents.
Mayor Park said the city also plans to open a memorial hall by 2020 near the site to commemorate the victims.
The city is displaying 30 photographs related to the disaster in City Hall’s lobby until Jan. 25.
The white paper is available at city libraries or can be downloaded from uri.seoul.go.kr or lib.seoul.go.kr.