Controversy Over the Release of the 'Itaewon Disaster' Victim List... "True Mourning" vs "Secondary Harm"

Citizen Media Mindulle "For True Mourning and Accountability"
"Secondary Harm to Bereaved Families"... Seoul City Council Members and Civic Groups File Complaints
Experts Disagree on Legality of Name Disclosure

A citizen journalism outlet has sparked controversy by releasing the list of victims of the Itaewon tragedy. There have been reports of lawsuits against those who disclosed the list without obtaining consent from the bereaved families, as well as against the public officials who provided the list. Experts are divided on the legality of the list's disclosure.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] A citizen media outlet has sparked controversy by releasing the list of victims of the Itaewon tragedy. There have been accusations that the list was published without the consent of the bereaved families, leading to reports filed against those responsible and the public officials who provided the list. Experts have differing opinions on the legality of disclosing the list.

At 9 a.m. on the 15th, Lee Jong-bae, a Seoul city council member from the People Power Party, stated in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, “Mindeulle and The Tam Sa disclosed the real names of the victims on the internet without the consent of the bereaved families, which constitutes providing personal information to a third party without the consent of the data subject, violating the Personal Information Protection Act, and we are filing a complaint.”

Lee said, “According to the law, personal information applies only to living natural persons, but even information about the deceased that can reveal relationships with the bereaved families qualifies as personal information,” adding, “The victims’ names alone can identify the families, and defamatory comments or rumors can damage the deceased’s honor and cause severe mental distress to the families, constituting clear secondary harm.”

A civic group has submitted a complaint to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office against the public official who provided the victim list to the citizen media. Kwon Min-sik, head of the Judicial Examination Preparation Group, said, “The list disclosed by the citizen media appears to have been leaked by a public official,” and “Providing personal information of disaster victims, which has not yet been made public, to citizen media constitutes a breach of official secrets.”

The controversy began when the citizen media organizations Mindeulle and The Tam Sa disclosed the names of 155 victims of the Itaewon tragedy. They stated, "By continuing to bury the victims in the shadows of anonymity, there is an attempt to downplay the impact." They further announced that, for genuine mourning and accountability, at least the names would be made public.

The controversy began when the citizen media outlets Mindeulle and The Tam Sa released the list of 155 victims of the Itaewon tragedy. They claimed that the ruling party and conservative media were misleading public opinion to minimize the aftermath of the disaster, stating, “They are trying to downplay the impact by keeping the victims buried in anonymity.” They further announced that, for genuine mourning and accountability, they would at least disclose the victims’ names. They have removed about ten names from the list at the request of families who did not wish to have their relatives’ names disclosed.

Experts have differing views on the legality of disclosing the victim list. Attorney Koo Tae-eon of Law Firm Lin said, “According to Article 2 of the law, personal information refers to ‘information about a living individual,’ so this is not problematic,” adding, “It might be defamation of the deceased, but since the list itself is not false, it is not a violation.”

On the other hand, Seung Jae-hyun, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminal Justice Policy, said that depending on who provided the list to those who disclosed it, the victims’ names could be considered personal information, making it potentially illegal. Seung said, “Those who disclosed the names likely did so with good intentions, but since there are people with malicious intent toward the victims, the disclosure should have been handled very carefully.”

There is also an opinion that the key issue is whether the provider of the personal information had a legitimate purpose in sharing the list. Choi Kyung-jin, president of the Personal Information Experts Association, said, “Since the provider gave the information while identifying the victims, giving personal information to the media could be problematic,” but added, “According to Article 17 of the law, the processor of personal information can claim legitimate interests, but this is a gray area and could be contentious.”

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