"Don't Use Mourning as an Excuse to Avoid Responsibility"… Park Ji-hyun Says "What Politics Must Do Now Is to Uncover the Truth"

"President Yoon Seok-yeol Meets Representative Lee Jae-myung, Promises Joint Truth Investigation and Punishment of Responsible Parties by Both Parties"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Park Ji-hyun, former emergency committee member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 31st regarding the Itaewon tragedy, "We must not evade responsibility by using the national shock and mourning as an excuse without reflection or apology," and added, "The ruling and opposition parties should jointly conduct a thorough investigation and punish those responsible regardless of their status."

On the same day, through social media (SNS), former committee member Park pointed out, "154 people who had many more days to live died brutally. Yet, there is not a single politician or public official who says they will take responsibility," and criticized, "This is clearly an administrative disaster caused by no preparation, but no one apologizes."

He questioned President Yoon Seok-yeol’s designation of a national mourning period by asking, "Is mourning possible without punishing those responsible or investigating the truth?" He further asked, "Not knowing the cause or responsibility of the incident, is the nonsense that ‘this was not a situation that could be resolved by the police’ considered mourning?" He then urged, "Do not try to evade responsibility under the pretext of mourning."

Former committee member Park said, "What must be done now is to identify the cause of death and hold those responsible accountable for those who had to face this tragic death," and added, "We must inspect the social safety net and fill its gaps so that such an incident never happens again."

Referring to the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, he said, "The opposition party was focused only on attacking Park Geun-hye, and the ruling party was busy obstructing the investigation," and noted, "Although the unprecedented disaster revealed a total failure of the safety system, there were no fundamental measures."

Park Ji-hyun requested a meeting with President Yoon and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, urging, "Meet as soon as possible to declare an end to political strife and apologize together for failing to protect the lives of the people," and asked for a promise of joint investigation and punishment of those responsible by both ruling and opposition parties.

He emphasized, "We must apologize for the deaths of the people and, along with mourning, proceed with investigating the truth and punishing those responsible," adding, "That is how politicians truly mourn the deaths of the people."

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