[Itaewon Tragedy] Prime Minister Han: "Insufficient Systems and Efforts... Crowd Control and Safety Will Be Top Priority"

Prime Minister Han Deok-su Holds Foreign Press Conference This Afternoon
PM Han: "Young People Are Not Responsible, Government Bears Full Responsibility... Those Responsible Will Be Held Accountable Through Investigation"
Promise to Treat Foreign Victims the Same as Korean Nationals

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Prime Minister Han Duck-soo acknowledged the government's shortcomings regarding the 'Itaewon Halloween crowd crush disaster' on the 1st, stating, "It seems there was a lack of sufficient institutional support and systematic efforts," and promised crowd management and safety measures.

Prime Minister Han made these remarks during a press conference with foreign reporters held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon, in response to questions about the cause of the accident.

When asked whether there was a shortage of police officers assigned to Itaewon due to urban rallies, Han replied, "I don't think the police were too focused on urban rallies to the extent that they couldn't concentrate on the Itaewon situation," but explained that the Gwanghwamun rallies and the Itaewon Halloween situation had "different starting points" when planning rally response strategies.

He described the Gwanghwamun rallies as involving groups of 30,000 and 25,000 people clashing, respectively, adding, "(In Itaewon) proper crowd management was in place, and even if there were 100,000 people, if there were no ideological differences or political intentions, such risks were considered absent."

Woo Jong-soo, Deputy Commissioner of the National Police Agency, also attended the press conference and supplemented Prime Minister Han's remarks. Deputy Commissioner Woo stated, "When people gather, we comprehensively assess the scale, nature, intent, and potential for conflict," adding, "Just because 50,000 or 60,000 people gather at a baseball stadium doesn't mean we deploy thousands of police officers."

Prime Minister Han referred to the negative sentiments in Korean society stemming from experiences under past authoritarian regimes and the resulting restrictions on individual police movement, emphasizing, "Even if some freedoms are somewhat restricted now, crowd management should be done well, imposing minimal constraints while prioritizing safety."

When foreign reporters continued with questions such as "Was it an unavoidable tragedy because it was an event without an organizer?" and "Where does police responsibility end?", Han said, "Once the police investigation is complete, we will transparently and clearly disclose the findings to both domestic and foreign media."

Regarding criticism of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min's statement during a briefing on the 30th of last month, the day after the disaster, that the issue was not something that could have been resolved by prior police and fire deployment, Han explained, "I don't think what Minister Lee said meant 'no matter how many police you deploy, it won't help,'" and expressed, "Our government ultimately bears infinite responsibility for public safety."

He also explained the limitations in the absence of a proper crowd management system and the need for institutional improvements for events without organizers.

In response to a foreign reporter's criticism asking, "Was it wrong for young people to be at the site of the disaster, and where does the Korean government's responsibility begin and end?" Han answered, "I believe the young people are not at fault at all," adding, "If there are people responsible as determined by the police investigation, they must be held accountable, and the government bears unlimited responsibility for the lives and safety of the people."

Following this answer, when there was a problem with the simultaneous interpretation device's audio transmission, Prime Minister Han joked with a smile, "Who has the first and last responsibility for things that are hard to hear?" which has sparked criticism on social media.

When asked whether he planned to officially apologize to President Yoon Suk-yeol, Han replied, "I understand that Minister Lee Sang-min, who is in charge of the central government's safety policy department, apologized at the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee this afternoon."

Han expressed curiosity shared by "common-sense non-experts" about why the disaster occurred in one of the three small alleys connecting two main streets, while similar narrow alleys on both sides did not experience such an incident, but emphasized, "Regarding such matters, I believe judgments should be based on thorough investigations and procedures, not on other types of judgments."

Regarding support for foreign victims, he responded, "They will be treated exactly the same as Korean citizens."

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