Joint Memorial Altar 'Deceased' Labeling and 'Black Ribbon' Guidelines... Opposition: "Government Appears to Evade Responsibility"

"'Deceased' Talk Breaks People's Hearts"
Criticism of "Ribbon Without Letters" Directive as "Unreasonable Order"

On the 1st, a citizen is paying tribute to the victims of the Itaewon disaster at the joint memorial altar set up in Noksapyeong Park, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] The Democratic Party of Korea strongly opposed the government’s directive to label the Itaewon tragedy joint memorial altar as 'deceased' instead of 'victims' and to instruct public officials to wear black ribbons without the inscription 'Geunjo (謹弔)', calling it an "unreasonable order." They sharply criticized it as "the height of irresponsibility aimed at downplaying the Itaewon tragedy as an 'unfortunate accident' to evade government responsibility."

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party, stated at the party’s strategy meeting on the 1st, "The government should not cause unnecessary controversy by downplaying a clear 'tragedy' as an 'accident' or by referring to 'victims' as 'deceased' to avoid responsibility," adding, "It is not the time to waste administrative resources by issuing directives to wear black ribbons without the word 'Geunjo'."

Since the day before, the government has set up joint memorial altars for the Itaewon tragedy at various locations nationwide, including Seoul City Hall Plaza and Itaewon Noksapyeong Station. The memorial altar was named 'Itaewon Accident Deceased Joint Memorial Altar.' Regarding this, Kim Seong-ho, head of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, explained at a briefing held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 1st, "In cases where the perpetrator or responsibility is clear, terms like 'victims' or 'casualties' are used, but since many aspects of this incident remain unconfirmed, neutral terms such as 'deceased' and 'injured' are used." According to MBC reports, the government discussed unifying terminology to use 'deceased,' 'casualties,' and 'accident' at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held on the 30th of last month, the day after the Itaewon tragedy.

The government is also reported to have recently sent official letters to various cities, provinces, and central ministries instructing them to "wear black ribbons without inscriptions." According to Kyunghyang Shinmun, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety did not disclose the reason for this directive, and the Ministry of Personnel Management stated, "It was simply to provide a unified standard consistently. There is no other reason."

On the 30th of last month, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (right) and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon entered the situation room at Seoul City Hall to check the situation related to the Itaewon disaster in Yongsan-gu. Mayor Oh wore a ribbon marked with 'Condolences,' while Prime Minister Han wore a plain ribbon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The opposition criticized this as an "attempt to downplay the tragedy and evade government responsibility." Wi Seong-gon, deputy floor leader for policy, said, "'Deceased' breaks the hearts of the people," and questioned, "The dictionary definition of 'deceased' is 'a dead person.' The dictionary definition of 'victim' is 'a person who has died, been injured, or suffered damage due to an event or incident.' Are the 155 victims of the Itaewon tragedy just dead people?"

Ahn Ho-young, chief spokesperson, held a briefing at the National Assembly communication office and said, "It is truly bizarre on what grounds and reasons such an order was issued. Is there any reason why expressing condolence or mourning would cause a problem?" He demanded, "The government should not try to evade or shift national responsibility and should immediately withdraw the directive to wear black ribbons without inscriptions."

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk criticized on his social network service (SNS), "Is the government trying to control even our grief? They say 'deceased' instead of 'victims,' 'accident' instead of 'tragedy,' and 'phenomenon' instead of 'event.' Now they say to wear black ribbons reversed instead of Geunjo ribbons. It appears to be an act to forcibly downplay grief and evade government responsibility."

Seemingly aware of the criticism, the Ministry of Personnel Management issued a statement on the 1st, clarifying that "black ribbons expressing condolences for the Itaewon accident can be worn regardless of whether they have inscriptions or not."

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