[Itaewon Tragedy] '154 Dead' Crushing Disaster... Limits in Assigning Responsibility

Accident Occurs in Narrow Alley, Not Building
Limitations in Determining Responsibility of State, Local Governments, and Police

On the 31st, police are controlling the scene at the Itaewon crush accident site in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Jang Sehee and Yoo Byeongdon] "There is no separate event organizer. If there had been an organizer, the relevant parties would have been immediately booked and thoroughly investigated. Right now, the situation requires investigating survivors and witnesses among those involved in the accident."

On the 31st, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that they had established an investigation headquarters the previous day to determine the cause and responsibility of the accident. However, even within the police, there are opinions that it will be difficult to clearly identify responsibility related to the Itaewon disaster.

This Halloween festival had no organizer and was a spontaneous gathering of citizens. For festivals with a clear organizer and more than 1,000 participants, a 'safety management plan' must be established. When there is no organizer, they are free from responsibility, making safety issues inevitably vulnerable. If the incident had occurred inside a building, the building owner or manager could be held accountable, but this incident happened in a narrow alley.

There was no safety accident response from the police on the day. The Seoul city government also did not prepare special measures or operate a situation room for Halloween, and Yongsan District did not manage traffic due to a shortage of personnel deployed on site.

Citizens also say that the Itaewon crush accident should be clearly assigned responsibility as it is a major disaster comparable to the Sewol ferry tragedy. Jo Minhee (32), who lives in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, said, "If there had been an organization overseeing the event or at least cooperation in control on the day, such a large-scale disaster would not have occurred," adding, "Clear identification of the cause and holding those responsible accountable is necessary to prevent recurrence."

Experts say that the national and local governments need to manage overall event safety.

Moon Hyuncheol, a professor in the Department of Disaster and Safety Management at Soongsil University, stated, "According to the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety, anyone who witnesses a dangerous situation must report it to national authorities," and added, "For on-site disasters, the national and local governments are considered the primary responsible agencies and should take the lead in responding."

Lee Woonghyuk, a professor in the Department of Police Science at Konkuk University, also said, "Seventeen years ago, in the crush accident in Sangju, the organizer, which was the local government, was punished, but this time it will be difficult to assign responsibility," adding, "If it is proven that someone pushed knowing it would cause injury, individuals can be investigated, but proving this may be very difficult. Ultimately, since a large-scale disaster occurred, the cause must be clearly identified and administrative responsibility should be enforced."

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