"Protests Outside Parliament and Disclosure of Victim List"... Growing Calls Within Opposition for Direct Response After Disaster

Lee Jae-myung "Name and Portrait Photo Disclosure" Announcement
Consensus on the Need for Disclosure Within the Party
Growing Voices Demanding Extra-Parliamentary Struggle

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] After the Itaewon tragedy, voices from the opposition party are calling for follow-up measures such as out-of-parliament protests and the disclosure of the victims' list. Although the leadership is not officially at the stage of promoting this at the party level, they have supported the view that concrete actions are necessary if the government fails to fulfill its responsibilities adequately.

A party leadership official said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 10th regarding the disclosure of the victims' list, "Proposing to disclose the names of the victims is about making the abnormal normal," adding, "During the Sewol ferry disaster, we called out each name one by one to mourn, and it was the same during the US 9/11 attacks."

He continued, "There are people raising the issue of 'Why should we cover the faces of our children?' so we cannot simply ignore their voices," but added, "The first task is to confirm whether all 156 bereaved families agree."

The day before, party leader Lee Jae-myung announced at the party's Supreme Council meeting, "Of course, unless the bereaved families oppose, the names and portraits should be disclosed and sincere mourning should take place," emphasizing, "Hiding them does not make them disappear."

The earlier official explained, "We are urging because the government is not doing what it should. If the government refuses, we can proceed with the consent of the bereaved families," and added, "Such discussions have been ongoing within the party."

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee So-young also stated on KBS Radio's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs' on the same day, "I believe there is no absolute right or wrong answer regarding the disclosure of the victims' list, and naturally, the wishes of the bereaved families are very important," adding, "But I really do not understand why the People Power Party criticizes this as a political attack and calls it immoral when the opinion is to inform the public, remember, and mourn the victims."

She continued, "If you visit the sites of the Seongsu Bridge collapse, the Sewol ferry disaster, or the US 9/11 terror attack, the names of those who died in those incidents are listed," and said, "Many people listen to and share the tragic stories of each individual, mourning together, and in fact, these have been processes through which the nation collectively overcomes grief."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Along with this, voices within the party are also calling for out-of-parliament protests such as rallies demanding the resignation of the government. In response, the leadership drew a line, stating, "The party as a whole does not participate in the public candlelight rallies," and "The party has neither planned, orchestrated, nor encouraged such actions."

However, calls within the party to take direct action are growing stronger. An official explained, "The government is creating a 'lawless state,' and as anger accumulates, even lawmakers who initially thought it was inappropriate are now overflowing with thoughts of 'We must go out,'" adding, "This is also continuously being discussed by the leadership."

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