Oh Se-hoon "Could not predict Halloween accident... Will introduce crowd and mass management techniques" (Comprehensive)

Regarding the State Audit, "Will Follow the National Assembly's Decision"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated on the 7th that he "did not anticipate" the risk of accidents that could occur as many people gathered during the Halloween period.

At the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee that day, Oh made this remark in response to a question from Lee Hae-sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who asked, "More than 100,000 people were expected to gather that day. Did the city recognize the risk?"

Mayor Oh said that while he was on a business trip to Europe, he asked the First Deputy Mayor to pay special attention to safety measures, but he himself did not specifically mention Halloween nor did he receive any prior related reports from the city or Yongsan District. He added, "The Itaewon Global Festival held two weeks before the tragedy is a festival that Yongsan District always requests cooperation for and the Seoul city government also supports with a budget, but as far as I know, Halloween was not discussed with Yongsan District either last year or the year before."

Regarding questions about preventive measures, Mayor Oh explained, "We will introduce crowd management techniques by mobilizing all cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent CCTV, Internet of Things, and big data," adding, "I confirmed that such systems are being practically used in Japan, albeit at a rudimentary stage, and we will benchmark them as soon as possible."

During the Public Administration and Security Committee meeting, criticism was raised that the Seoul mayor, as the overall head of the local autonomous police, should have taken proper safety measures. Democratic Party member Kim Gyo-heung said, "The autonomous police are responsible for citizens' order, safety, security, and traffic," and asked, "What did the top leader, the mayor, do?" Mayor Oh drew a line on direct responsibility by stating, "The autonomous police are a consensual administrative body that independently judges and works." When the member pointed out, "The person ultimately responsible for the affairs of the Seoul autonomous police is the Seoul mayor," Oh countered, "The Autonomous Police Committee is legally defined to operate independently."

In response to People Power Party member Park Sung-min's question about when Seoul first recognized the accident, Oh said, "The head of the Fire and Disaster Headquarters is in the position to be the first to dispatch to the scene," and added, "The first action taken by the city was when the Fire and Disaster Headquarters received the initial report and ordered dispatch to three fire stations."

When member Kim pointed out, "Until before 10:15 a.m., complaints were received at the Dasan Call Center stating 'vehicles are not moving; cars have been stuck for three hours,' but the city only informed the Yongsan District Office duty room and did not establish countermeasures," Mayor Oh responded, "Most were traffic complaints, and I did not confirm any inquiries about a crush situation." Regarding criticism that the missing person report through the Dasan Call Center was delayed, he explained, "Internally discussed content was prematurely broadcast around 4 a.m. the day after the tragedy during the on-site briefing by the Yongsan Fire Station chief, causing about 30 to 40 minutes of inconvenience."

Regarding claims that Mayor Oh abolished the Digital Mayor's Office, part of the Disaster Safety Integrated System created during former Mayor Park Won-soon's administration, he refuted, saying, "That is not true," and added, "The system has rather evolved and developed as the budget was allocated and executed."

When asked about his thoughts on a state audit by Democratic Party member Song Jae-ho, Mayor Oh stated, "I will comply with whatever the National Assembly decides."

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