"Itaewon Disaster Reported to Fire and Disaster Management Agency and Seoul City Within 11 Minutes, Disaster Operations Not Activated for 30 Minutes"

Min Kyung Democratic Party Lawmaker Confirms Notification Status of Fire and Disaster Management Agency

On the 13th, volunteers and Yongsan District Office officials are organizing chrysanthemums and memorial messages left by citizens on the sidewalk in front of the Itaewon disaster site in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] It has been pointed out that Seoul City received reports via hotline that "many reports of crushing incidents are coming in" immediately after the Itaewon disaster, but took no action for 30 minutes.

On the 15th, Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated through obtained materials, "It has been confirmed that at 10:26 PM on the 29th of last month, just 11 minutes after the Itaewon disaster occurred, the Seoul Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Center (hereafter Disaster Prevention Center) notified the Disaster Situation Room via hotline that 'many reports of crushing incidents at the Itaewon Halloween Festival are coming in,' providing specific details of the accident."

Kim Ui-seung, the First Deputy Mayor for Administration, and Han Je-hyun, the Second Deputy Mayor for Administration, learned of the accident at 10:56 PM through a rescue response text message sent by the Comprehensive Disaster Prevention Center.

Based on this, Go's office stated, "Although the Disaster Situation Room received notification via hotline that 'many reports of crushing incidents are coming in,' it did not report to higher-ups such as the Mayor or Deputy Mayor of Seoul for 30 minutes and took no measures. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said before his business trip to Europe that he had made thorough arrangements so that the Deputy Mayor could handle all matters, but Seoul City's response to the Itaewon disaster appears to have been full of gaps."

Go added, "Since it has been confirmed that despite the hotline notification that 'many reports of crushing incidents are coming in,' Seoul City's disaster situation system was not activated and initial measures were not taken promptly, an investigation and accountability regarding Seoul City seem inevitable."

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