Oh Se-hoon: "'Itaewon Disaster' Caused by Predictive Failures of Seoul City, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Police"

Response at Seoul Metropolitan Council's City Administration Inquiry... "We will improve the Seoul City Hall Disaster Safety Situation Room System"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated that the cause of the Itaewon tragedy was due to the failure of predictions by the authorities, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the central government, and the police, and that the related authorities should reflect on this.

On the 16th, Mayor Oh responded to a question from Park Yoo-jin, a Democratic Party city council member, during the Seoul Metropolitan Council plenary session, saying, "If we examine the cause of the accident, it lies in the failure to predict that such a large crowd would gather in Itaewon and Hongdae," adding, "This is something that the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the police, and the fire department should reflect on. We must first acknowledge the failure of prediction to avoid misunderstandings among citizens."

He also added that the system for predicting large-scale accidents and disasters would be improved to prevent recurrence. Mayor Oh said, "Following the Itaewon tragedy, discussions have begun on how to integrate and manage 112 and 119 emergency calls," and "We are discussing the introduction of artificial intelligence and intelligent closed-circuit television (CCTV) to supplement the system."

Regarding the fact that the Seoul City Hall Disaster and Safety Situation Room was not connected to the Yongsan-gu CCTV, he responded that the system would be fixed. Mayor Oh said, "We have newly established the Smart Seoul CCTV Safety Center in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, and were in the process of building a system to share alleyway CCTV footage viewed by autonomous districts during crises by investing budget," adding, "Although it is belated, we will fix the system even now."

Meanwhile, concerning the relationship between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Fire and Disaster Headquarters, he stated that they operate under the mayor’s command and control, and that in the event of an accident, reports are made to the mayor. Mayor Oh said, "The head of the Fire and Disaster Headquarters is under the mayor’s command and control and reports to the mayor when an accident occurs," adding, "However, following the principle of taking action first and reporting later, rescue and emergency activities are carried out first, and the situation on site is then communicated."

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