Itaewon Tragedy Online Memorial Hall Poem 'Heartfelt'... 7,000 Tribute Posts

Online Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Itaewon Disaster Established on the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Website

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has received over 7,000 condolence messages at the 'Online Memorial Hall' established on the 31st of last month following the Itaewon tragedy.

Most of the messages comfort the young victims who left before they could fully bloom. Messages written by peers of similar age to the victims visiting the memorial hall are also noticeable.

There are bitter messages reflecting the current emotional state of the Korean people, such as "We haven't even been able to send off the Sewol ferry children yet, and now we have to send off other children," expressing how they feel unable to focus on anything.

Many critical messages denounce the government's incompetence and human-caused disaster, including comments like "It makes us reconsider the reason for the existence of the state," "Who commands the police stations and district offices? Isn't the government responsible?" and "A backward country disaster that should not happen in the 21st century occurred in Korea."

We would like to introduce a poem posted in the memorial hall.

What were you so busy for

Children who were to be flowers

In case of chaos

I told you to hide behind me

On a perfectly fine night

Where did you hide already?

I will go out and stop it

Don't remember my death

I told you to fulfill my wish

On a perfectly fine night

Did you become stars first?

Earlier, Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon requested on the 2nd through the 'Open Governor's Office' on the Gyeonggi Provincial Government website that people gather their condolences, stating that the online memorial hall for the Itaewon tragedy victims is being established and operated.

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