People Power Party's 'Gwangju Apartment Collapse' Accident Response Team Holds Meeting in Gwangju

Won Hee-ryong, Head of Headquarters: "The goal is to provide practical help in all areas and continue until the end"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Won Hee-ryong, head of the policy headquarters of the People Power Party's presidential campaign, and the special response team for the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident held a meeting with the countermeasures committee for the affected commercial stores and the preliminary residents' countermeasures committee on the 23rd.

Earlier, on the 6th, Head Won visited Gwangju with candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and inspected the accident site. On the 7th, he announced at the campaign headquarters meeting that a special response team for the accident would be formed.

The special team, led by Head Won, consists of experts, lawmakers, and staff members, and will begin activities in three directions: investigation, compensation, and improvement.

So far, participants include Kim Su-cheol, director of policy cooperation at the policy headquarters; Kim Chang-ho, chairman of the policy complaints special committee; lawyers Kim Jae-sik (chairman of the Seoul Guro Gap party committee), Son Young-taek (chairman of the Seoul Yangcheon Eul party committee), and Lim Jin-seok; youth aides Kwak Seung-yong and Jang Chang-hoon; with support from Ha Heon-sik, chairman of the People Power Party Gwangju Seo-gu Eul party committee, and Kim Jeong-hyun, chairman of the Gwangsan Gap party committee. Architectural experts, design, and supervision specialists are expected to join later.

Hong Seok-sam, chairman of the affected commercial stores countermeasures committee, criticized the city and district offices for poor supervision and shifting responsibility, the protection of Hyundai Development Company by public officials, and superficial safety inspections. He requested that compensation based on sales include fixed costs such as rent and that sufficient information such as permit documents be provided.

Countermeasures committee member Park Tae-ju appealed, “The residents are victims, yet they are not even called as witnesses,” and urged, “Please severely punish the cartel of construction corruption forces.”

Lee Seung-yeon, representative of the preliminary residents' countermeasures committee, strongly requested demolition and reconstruction without a safety precision diagnosis, emphasizing the need for support measures such as financial aid for delayed move-in and guarantees from the parent company.

One preliminary resident appealed, “I bought my home with all my savings, but I am anxious because I don’t know when it might collapse,” and added, “The opinions of preliminary residents, who suffer the greatest direct damage, are being ignored.”

Head Won stated, “Whether it takes two or three years, we will continuously provide support,” and said, “Our goal is to offer practical help in all aspects.”

He added, “Since there is no opposing force, it is easy for those responsible to evade accountability,” emphasizing, “The ultimate purpose of the special response team is to create a living democracy where a genuine opposing force operates healthily.”

Another preliminary resident said, “After experiencing injustice and becoming a victim, I realized how much politics affects life,” and stated, “Gwangju does not only trust the Democratic Party. I believe change is necessary.”

Meanwhile, on the same day, Won Hee-ryong, head of the policy headquarters, and the special response team for the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident held a meeting with the families of the victims in the morning. Based on the opinions from the meeting, they plan to establish support plans by sector and continue support activities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.