'65-Minute Gap' Minister Sang-min Lee of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety Recognized the Itaewon Disaster at '11:20 PM'

Ministry of the Interior and Safety Revises Minister's Awareness Time from 11:19 PM to 11:20 PM... "Delivered Through Secretary's Office"
Fire Department's First Report Received at 10:15 PM... 19 Minutes Later Than President's Awareness Time
Time Received at Ministry's Situation Room Was 10:48 PM... Control Tower Part Not Properly Operating

On the 2nd, during the national mourning period following the large-scale crush disaster in Itaewon, visitors continue to come to the memorial space set up near Itaewon Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been confirmed that Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, who is responsible for the safety of the people, only became aware of the Itaewon disaster situation for the first time an hour after it occurred.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 2nd, Minister Lee first recognized the accident through an emergency message from the Ministry’s Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room at 11:20 PM on the day of the accident, the 29th of last month. There was no report through the police.

At 10:15 PM, when the fire department first received the report, at 10:48 PM when the Fire Agency Situation Room reported Fire Response Level 1 to the Ministry’s Situation Room according to the disaster safety reporting system, and at 10:57 PM when the Ministry’s Situation Room sent an emergency message Level 1 to internal officials, Minister Lee was still unaware of the Itaewon disaster situation. He only grasped the situation at 11:20 PM when Fire Response Level 2 was issued.

Initially, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated in explanatory materials that the minister directly received the emergency message at 11:19 PM. However, the ministry later issued a correction, explaining, "The minister first became aware of the accident at 11:20 PM through a staff member of the minister’s secretariat who received the emergency message sent at 11:19 PM," and "At 11:31 PM, the minister received a situation report related to the Itaewon accident from the head of the Ministry’s Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room."

The message sent at 11:19 PM contained an overview of the accident, estimated about 30 patients in cardiac arrest, damage status, and response situation, but the minister received the emergency message through a secretariat staff member. The ministry explained that the minister’s contact was not included in the cross-shot distribution list, and the cross-shot sent at 11:19 PM was delivered to the minister at 11:20 PM through the secretariat staff.

Even after the situation became very serious, one axis of the control tower was not properly operational for about an hour. This was 19 minutes later than 11:01 PM, the time the Blue House announced that President Yoon Suk-yeol became aware of the incident.

On the 2nd, during the national mourning period following the large-scale crush disaster in Itaewon, visitors continued to pay their respects at the memorial space set up near Itaewon Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Minister Lee visited the accident site about 1 hour and 25 minutes after first becoming aware of the disaster situation. He stayed at the site for 45 minutes, then attended an emergency countermeasure meeting chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the Government Seoul Office at 1:50 AM on the 30th, and moved to an emergency countermeasure meeting chaired by the president at 2:30 AM. At 10 AM, he attended the first meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters chaired by the president.

At the Central Disaster Headquarters briefing that day, Park Jong-hyun, Director of Social Disaster Response Policy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, explained, "The Situation Room of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety judges whether the matter should be reported up to the vice minister and minister, and the situation room chief takes action accordingly," adding, "The time the Ministry’s Situation Room received the report was 10:48 PM." He also mentioned that various reports received through the police did not seem to have been forwarded to the ministry.

In response, Lee Il, Director of the 119 Response Bureau at the Fire Agency, said, "Before 10:15 PM, seven reports came from the Itaewon area, but they were general emergency situations involving intoxicated persons around the event venue," and added, "We are continuing to verify these." Regarding plans to release the 119 call recordings, he said, "They are not released immediately upon request but shared according to procedures."

On that day, after presiding over the whole-government task force (TF) meeting to prevent crowd accidents, Minister Lee did not respond to reporters’ questions regarding the lack of direct reporting from the Fire Agency.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is removing his mask to speak at the emergency briefing on the Itaewon disaster held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

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