"Not the time to evade responsibility"... Opposition raises voices at Lee Sang-min's remarks on 'Itaewon Disaster'

Lee Jae-myung "Do Your Best to Resolve the Situation with a Humble Attitude"
Seo Young-kyo "The Public Raises Issues Due to Attempts to Avoid Responsibility"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 31st and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The opposition party raised their voices in criticism, calling Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min's statement that the lack of police and firefighting personnel deployment was not the cause of the Itaewon 'Halloween Day' stampede tragedy "irresponsible remarks."

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at the party's Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the 31st, "For now, it is time to focus all efforts on recovery and consolation," adding, "I ask the government authorities to also focus on this point and, if they are going to say things like 'I am not responsible' or 'I have done enough,' which would anger the public, to instead take a humble stance of 'This is solely my responsibility' and concentrate on doing their best to manage the situation."

During a briefing at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters emergency meeting held at the Government Seoul Office the previous day, Minister Lee responded to a question about whether it was expected that crowds would gather on the day by saying, "As far as we have identified, although the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, compared to previous years, there was not an unusually large crowd to be particularly concerned about," and added, "Unlike usual, this was not a problem that could have been resolved simply by pre-deploying police or firefighting personnel, as we currently understand."

In response, Supreme Council member Park Chan-dae also criticized Minister Lee's remarks, saying, "I want to ask if this is the time for the minister in charge of administration and safety to make such irresponsible statements," and added, "I hope they do their best in the recovery efforts."

Supreme Council member Seo Young-kyo also said, "I really could not believe my ears," and pointed out, "The media and many citizens are raising issues with the attitude of avoidance rather than taking responsibility." She continued, "CNN also reported that the Itaewon tragedy could have been predicted in advance and that there was a responsibility to monitor the crowd in real time, but the Minister of the Interior and Safety of the Republic of Korea seems to be making evasive remarks, which has been criticized."

Woo Sang-ho, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

On the same day, Representative Woo Sang-ho also criticized on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory,' saying, "If you don't know well, you should keep your mouth shut. I don't understand why you keep making excuses and provoking the public's anger."

Representative Woo said, "Now is not the time to make excuses to avoid responsibility. Who is more authoritative than the police in maintaining order?" and criticized, "No one could have predicted that an accident of this scale would happen, but ultimately, safety negligence is what causes such major accidents."

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