Opposition Criticizes 'Itaewon Disaster' in Political Affairs Committee... "Must Apologize Even 100 Times"

Government-Level Apology Urged... "Expression of Regret Not Appropriate"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] At the full meeting of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee held on the 1st, harsh criticism demanding a government-level apology was directed at Bang Moon-kyu, Minister for Government Policy Coordination, regarding the Itaewon crowd crush disaster in Seoul.

Park Jae-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, retorted to Minister Bang, "Do you know what an apology and expression of regret mean?" He added, "The term 'regret' is inappropriate. But it seems there is no apology. No one is saying they will apologize."

Voices also arose demanding an apology from Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, criticizing his remarks. Earlier, on the 30th of last month, Minister Lee stated at a briefing at the Government Seoul Office, "Compared to previous years, there was not an unusually large crowd in Itaewon to the extent that it would cause concern. It is understood that this was not a problem that could have been resolved simply by pre-deploying police and firefighters."

Park said, "If you cannot empathize with the feelings of ordinary people beyond the scope of your own life experience, you should not hold such a high position." Min Byung-duk also pointed out, "(Minister Lee's remarks) constitute secondary and tertiary harm to the victims, their families, and citizens."

Assembly member So Byung-chul criticized, "When looking at the statements of responsible government officials, they shift the blame for the disaster, divide people, and rather fuel the flames of anger," adding, "I hope such remarks will no longer be made." He emphasized, "Apologies must be sincere and genuine, even if repeated a hundred times. Both words and actions are important. Remarks that seem to shift responsibility should be restrained."

He mentioned, "During the London public housing fire disaster on June 14, 2017, Conservative Party Prime Minister Theresa May apologized only after a week, which caused tremendous public anger."

Criticism was also raised regarding the inadequacy of the response manual. Kim Sung-joo said, "It is incomprehensible to blame the cause of the disaster on the lack of a response manual for an event without an organizer," and added, "If it was predicted that more people would gather, preparations should have been greater than in the past."

Minister Bang said, "I express my deep sorrow over the fact that such an incident occurred as a result," and stated, "The government will do its utmost to thoroughly identify the causes and ensure that such a tragic accident does not recur."

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