Belated parliamentary investigation enrages families of Itaewon tragedy

Members of the National Assembly's special investigative committee on Wednesday listen to Yongsan Fire Station Chief Choi Seong-beom, who is wearing an orange safety helmet, in an alley in Itaewon, Seoul, where the deadly Halloween crowd crush occurred on Oct. 29, killing at least 158 people. Yonhap

National Assembly committee kicks off investigation into deadly crowd crush

By Ko Dong-hwan

Almost two months after at least 158 people died in a crowd crush in central Seoul's Itaewon on Oct. 29, a special investigative committee formed by the National Assembly was launched on Wednesday.

Eight lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), seven from the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and two from minor opposition parties ― the Justice Party and Basic Income Party ― gathered in front of a memorial altar set up to honor the tragedy's victims at nearby Noksapyeong Station on Seoul Metro Line 6. Paying their respects to the 158 portraits on a cold, snowy morning, the committee members started the special investigation that should wrap up on Jan. 7.

Some at the scene, sobbing, shouted, "What took you so long?"

Led by DPK Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the committee started the investigation by visiting the site of the disaster, a narrow alley on a descending slope next to the Hamilton Hotel in front of Itaewon Station. Choi Seong-beom, chief of Yongsan Fire Station, gave the politicians an on-site explanation of how the disaster unfolded. Emergency workers from the station had been among the rescuers at the scene on the night of the disaster who tried freeing the victims and resuscitating those who had lost consciousness through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Following the visit to the disaster site, the committee members then went across the street to the closest police station. Officers from the station had seen tens of thousands of people inundating the local streets of the popular Halloween hotspot and tried to control the surging crowds. Ahn Chang-wook, head of the station, told them how police had engaged with the crowd.

Rep. Jin Sun-mi from the DPK pointed out during the visit that the tragedy could have been prevented if at least two officers had monitored both ends of the alley.

The headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was the committee's next stop. A group of bereaved families who had launched an official committee of their own was already waiting in front of the headquarters, rallying to remind the politicians to uncover the facts about what the police agency had known and actions it had taken that night ― hoping to find if anyone was responsible for the disaster.

Members of the National Assembly's special investigative committee on Wednesday listen to police officers at Itaewon Police Station describing the day of the deadly Halloween crowd crush disaster on Oct. 29. Joint Press Corps

The committee wrapped up its first day after making its last stop at Seoul City Hall. The inquiry focused on how the city government had commanded emergency crews and how police forces were mobilized from surrounding areas in Seoul as well as Incheon and Gyeonggi Province to cope with the aftermath of the disaster.

The committee's investigation came about in a rather dramatic fashion. On Tuesday, PPP lawmakers finally joined the committee after previously rejecting their party's nomination of them in an attempt to spite the DPK, after it had launched an Assembly motion to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min over failing to prevent the tragedy and allegedly mistreating and provoking the grieving families.

The decision on Tuesday evening came after lawmakers earlier in the day met 10 representatives of the bereaved families for the first time at the National Assembly. The meeting was extremely emotional with many tears shed, invocations and shouting by heartbroken family members who condemned the conservative party lawmakers for "taking advantage of the tragedy as political leverage over partisan disputes" and "neglecting to join the committee in the first place."

The ruling party members had said that they wouldn't be part of the committee until they reached an agreement with the DPK on the country's budget planning for next year. But DPK lawmakers and the bereaved families criticized the PPP for "unnecessarily" mixing partisan politics with the national investigation into the disaster. Two PPP lawmakers had made controversial online remarks and publicly snubbed the bereaved families instead of sympathizing with them, which had already triggered a backlash from the enraged public as well as opposition parties.

Some of the bereaved families on Tuesday condemned the PPP lawmakers for their "dirty mouths" and "gimmicks to use the tragedy as a bargaining chip" for a bipartisan deal.

Rep. Joo Ho-young, the PPP floor leader who also participated in the meeting with the bereaved families, said following the meeting that he advised the committee selectees from the party to join the investigation.