Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Firefighters' union demands investigation of interior minister over Itaewon tragedy
Ko Jin-young, center, the head of the firefighters' union affiliated with the Korean Government Employees' Union, holds a press conference before appearing before the police for questioning as the complainant. The union filed a complaint with the police last week against Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min for alleged negligence in connection with the Itaewon crowd crush disaster. Newsis
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
The firefighters' union has filed a complaint with the police demanding that they investigate Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min for his alleged negligence in connection with the Itaewon crowd crush disaster that killed at least 158 people who gathered in Itaewon on Oct. 29 for Halloween.
Ko Jin-young, the head of the unionized firefighters, held a press conference prior to appearing before the police for questioning as the complainant, Wednesday. He urged the minister to step down from his post and demanded that the police investigate the minister thoroughly.
The union filed the complaint to the special police investigation team at the National Police Agency against the minister on Nov. 14 for alleged dereliction of duty and professional negligence leading to deaths and injuries. The group says the minister in charge of public safety is responsible for the disaster that claimed at least 158 lives under the Act of the Management of Disaster and Safety.
Ko raised questions about the way the team's investigation is being conducted, underscoring that a thorough investigation into the minister is key to finding out the truth about the tragic event and preventing future disasters.
Thus far, the probe team has searched and investigated 66 facilities and offices including police stations, a fire agency, the district office, Seoul Metro's headquarters, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and some branches of the interior and safety ministry. However, the ministerial office has not been subject to any search yet, although the minister has been switched to being designated a suspect since the union filed its complaint on Nov. 14.
“No progress has been made at all with the investigation of Minister Lee,” Ko said, questioning the investigation team's will to get to the bottom of the tragic disaster.
The union held a petition campaign demanding that the special investigation team stop focusing on frontline firefighting officials in the Itaewon crowd crush probe, gathering over 130,000 signatures, which it delivered to the team on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the special police investigation team charged nine more officials as suspects in the Itaewon tragedy, Wednesday. Those charged include: four police officers managing the situation room at Yongsan Police Station, three personnel from the Yongsan District Office, and one official each from Yongsan Fire Station and the Seoul Metro, respectively.
“We have charged nine additional officials based on objective data and testimonies from the investigation for alleged professional negligence resulting in deaths,” Kim Dong-wook, a spokesperson of the investigation team, said during a media briefing on Wednesday.
A total of 17 suspects are under the police probe in connection to the tragedy as of Wednesday.