"Demanding Investigation of Sangmin"... Following the Public Officials' Union, the Firefighters' Union Also Pressures the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety

"Overseeing Disaster-Related Tasks... Neglect of Duty"
Also Reported for Negligence Resulting in Injury or Death

At 10:30 a.m. on the 14th, the Firefighters' Labor Union filed a complaint with the Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) against Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, who is responsible for disaster safety.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The Firefighters' Union has filed a complaint with the Police Agency's Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Unit) against Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, who is responsible for disaster safety.

The Korea Public Officials Labor Union Federation National Public Officials Labor Union Fire Agency Branch (Gongnochong Firefighters' Union) announced this on the 14th at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Special Investigation Unit office for the Itaewon incident in Mapo-gu, Seoul, stating, "Since the 10·29 Itaewon tragedy occurred, proper measures to identify the person most responsible have not been taken."

They demanded that Minister Lee be immediately booked and thoroughly investigated. Choi Jong-yeon, a lawyer from the Law Office Work and People, representing the complainants, said, "Minister Lee oversees disaster-related work and should have managed disaster prevention and response for mass gatherings without an organizer," adding, "According to the Police Agency's safety management manual, even in cases without an organizer, safety management and disaster preparedness are necessary. However, as the minister of the competent department with command and supervision authority, he neglected his duties."

He also stated, "Two weeks before the tragedy, the Global Village Festival attracted a crowd of one million people and traffic control was implemented. Considering this precedent, it was expected that a crowd of about 100,000 people would gather daily," and "On the day of the tragedy, the 112 emergency calls related to crushing incidents concretized the possibility of the disaster. Although the riot police units deployed for crowd control during assemblies and protests ended their duties around 8:30 p.m., no redeployment was executed," arguing that these constitute negligence resulting in death and injury.

Additionally, they criticized the Special Investigation Unit's "scapegoating investigation." Ko Jin-young, chairman of the Gongnochong Firefighters' Union, said, "In situations where commanders cannot control everything, putting the on-site command response under scrutiny and judging each action will prevent firefighters from properly commanding at disaster scenes in the future," adding, "In such cases, commanders will issue the highest emergency level to avoid responsibility regardless of the situation, which will lead to improper on-site command or casualties."

They filed charges against Minister Lee for negligence resulting in death and injury and dereliction of duty, urging the Special Investigation Unit to conduct a direct investigation. They stated, "According to Article 14, Clause 2 of the Rules on Jurisdiction and Investigation of Police Cases, the Special Investigation Unit has the authority to directly investigate misconduct cases involving high-ranking public officials."

Meanwhile, the Public Officials Union has also demanded Minister Lee's resignation. On the 11th, the National Public Officials Labor Union urged Minister Lee Sang-min to take responsibility for the Itaewon Halloween crowd crush tragedy and resign in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office.

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