Opposition Park Chan-dae: "Lee Sang-min's Remarks Completely Out of Common Sense... Only Eager to Avoid Responsibility"

"Using Tragedy? True Condolence Is Easing the People's Hearts"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Park Chan-dae, Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, strongly criticized Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min's remarks regarding the Itaewon tragedy on the 1st, calling them "completely out of common sense."

Earlier, Minister Lee stated about the Itaewon tragedy, "There was not an unusually large crowd to be particularly concerned about," and "It is understood that this was not a problem that could have been resolved by pre-deploying police or fire personnel," which sparked controversy. After criticism from both ruling and opposition parties, the minister belatedly expressed regret on the previous day (October 31).

Park, who is the head of the Democratic Party's Itaewon Tragedy Countermeasures Headquarters, appeared on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' on the same day and said, "As the minister of the relevant department, he should humbly apologize in the face of the national pain and tragedy, but instead, he seems to be making remarks hurriedly to evade responsibility."

Regarding the police launching a full-scale investigation based on testimonies that groups of 5 to 6 people pushed citizens during the accident, Park pointed out, "I think the Yoon Seok-yeol administration is looking for a wrong scapegoat."

He added, "Looking at the minister of the Interior and Safety's remarks so far, it seems that in a rush to evade responsibility, he is trying to shift blame onto the young people who were there or some businesses as scapegoats," and said, "This is a situation where we cannot help but suspect that it is an attempt to obscure the essence of the tragedy and avoid responsibility."

He also criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol, saying, "Although he said he was briefed on this matter all day long, the next day when the president came to the site, he made an inappropriate remark, saying, 'So many people died here?'" and added, "The life and safety of the people is the nation's top priority, and the president should care about that above all, but the public cannot possibly understand this part."

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