Minister Sang-min Lee: "The Itaewon Tragedy Is a Systemic Issue"... National Investigation 'Verbal Clash'

National Assembly Special Committee 2nd On-Site Investigation, Minister's Responsibility Pointed Out with Response of 'Inadequate Reporting System'
"One-Time Disaster... Unaware of Itaewon That Kind of (Halloween Festival) Event Itself"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, on the 23rd, regarding the Itaewon tragedy, stated, "I think it is a problem of the system, not the minister," and refuted the responsibility claims directed at him point by point.

On the same day, during the second on-site investigation by the National Assembly's Special Committee for the Investigation of the Itaewon Tragedy targeting the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, when Yoon Gun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out that "the disaster response control tower of the Republic of Korea did not receive reports for an hour and could not go to the site for two hours," Minister Lee responded accordingly.

The special committee conducted its second investigation following the on-site investigation on the 21st targeting the Itaewon Police Station, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and the Mayor of Seoul. From the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Minister Lee Sang-min, Kim Seong-ho, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, Ha Byeong-pil, Director of Planning and Coordination, and Park Yong-su, Director of the Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room, attended.

On this day, the ruling and opposition members of the special committee focused their questioning on Minister Lee Sang-min regarding the lack of proper awareness and reporting of the incident after the tragedy occurred and the failure to establish the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. Kim Gyo-heung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (opposition secretary), criticized, "The Minister of the Interior and Safety should have immediately formed the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters when the tragedy occurred, but it was formed only under the president's directive," and asked, "Did the Minister of the Interior and Safety only issue guidelines to the head of the Disaster and Safety Headquarters, meaning there was no central control tower?"

Minister Lee replied, "At that time, (the system operation) was all in place," and argued, "The disaster safety communication network was operating normally, and each agency operated smoothly, but the connection between agencies was insufficient." He added, "The Itaewon tragedy was a one-time event; the disaster had already ended and was in the post-management stage, so the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters was not a matter of urgency," and countered, "It is important for the fire chief to take emergency measures, not the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Additionally, when Lee Man-hee, a member of the People Power Party (ruling party secretary), criticized, "There were parts of the communication network between agencies that were not fully utilized," and said, "The reporting system needs reinforcement," Minister Lee admitted, "It is true that the utilization of the disaster communication network pointed out by this secretary was lacking," but defended, "Ministers and vice ministers have changed so that field commanders can report at their discretion anytime."

There was also criticism that preparations should have been made for the large crowds expected in Itaewon (from Kwon Chil-seung, Democratic Party member), but Minister Lee responded, "I did not even know that such an event (festival) was taking place in Itaewon," and said, "It may sound like an excuse, but it is difficult to grasp all gatherings."

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