Half a Day After Yoon's Directive, Practical Meeting Held to Inspect 'National Security System'... Focus on US and Japan Research

- Presidential Office Summons External Experts Immediately After Yoon's Announcement to Analyze Issues Including Lack of 'Crowd Accident' Response Manual
- Considering Domestic Situation, Referencing Studies from the US and Japan... Establishing Outline and Promoting Public Awareness Improvement

Ahead of Halloween, President Yoon Seok-yeol is inspecting the site in the Itaewon area of Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where a large-scale crush disaster occurred on the 30th./Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Presidential Office has launched a 'National Safety System Inspection Meeting.' This came shortly after President Yoon Seok-yeol announced the holding of a 'Public-Private Joint National Safety System Inspection Meeting' on the 1st as a follow-up measure to the Itaewon disaster. The meeting, initiated with external experts centered around the National Situation Room, deeply discussed the issue of the absence of manuals for crowd accidents.

According to the Presidential Office and government ministries on the 3rd, less than half a day after President Yoon stated at the Cabinet meeting on the 1st, "I will hold a safety system inspection meeting with relevant ministers and experts," a working-level meeting was immediately convened. This reflected the internal atmosphere that swift action was necessary for accident response and follow-up measures, as the Itaewon disaster caused large-scale casualties and government responsibility debates were spreading.

The National Situation Room, following President Yoon's directive, immediately called in external experts to discuss plans for establishing a supplementary system for 'Crowd Management.' A Presidential Office official explained, "It is still not easy to find precise experts domestically who can categorize various types of crowd accidents," adding, "We sought opinions mainly from researchers and university research teams holding relevant data."

At the meeting, opinions were exchanged regarding the absence of manuals for crowd accidents and approaches by type. They reviewed crowd accidents linked to building fires or burial accidents by type and set directions for establishing a response system. An official who attended the meeting said, "While the government has basic response systems for common accidents by ministry and related agencies, everyone recognized that the response system for accidents in open spaces like this incident is still insufficient."

Accordingly, the plan is to first focus on analyzing research cases from the U.S. and Japan in addition to accumulated domestic research cases. Another attendee explained that in the U.S. and Japan, after similar past accidents, response systems and related research have been extensively conducted. Additionally, causes and response cases of crowd accidents occurring in the Middle East and Europe will also be referenced.

The Presidential Office intends to set the basic plan direction through a meeting chaired directly by President Yoon as early as next week, and relevant ministries and experts will collaboratively fill in the details accordingly. After outlining, necessary institutional improvement matters will be organized and support requested from the National Assembly and each ministry. In the mid to long term, they also plan to promote the establishment of a system to improve public awareness.

Discussions on the response system have also begun on a whole-of-government basis. The Seoul Metropolitan Council has decided to push for the enactment of an ordinance requiring local governments to manage safety for 'events without organizers,' and the National Police Agency has launched a 'Crowd Management Task Force' to prevent recurrence of the Itaewon disaster and started establishing safety management measures. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety also held the first meeting of the 'Mass Crowd Accident Safety Assurance Task Force' the day before.

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