"Paralysis of State Investigation"... Itaewon Special Committee Clash Over 'Delayed Documents'

"Submitting Data Only to the Ruling Party... What Are They Trying to Do?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 27th, opposition party members of the National Assembly’s Special Committee for the Itaewon Disaster National Investigation strongly expressed dissatisfaction with the passive submission of materials by government agencies during the first institutional briefing held at the National Assembly. The briefing involved the Presidential Office’s National Situation Room, National Security Office’s Crisis Management Center, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, National Police Agency, and National Fire Agency. Although the ruling party tried to defuse the situation by calling it a "misunderstanding," the verbal dispute between the ruling and opposition parties continued.

On the 27th, a full meeting of the Special Committee for the National Assembly Investigation on the Itaewon Disaster was held. Attending the meeting were Han O-seop, Director of the Presidential Office National Situation Room; Bang Moon-gyu, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination; Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety; Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare; Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency; and Nam Hwa-young, Acting Commissioner of the National Fire Agency, who reported on their respective agencies. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

On that day, Committee Member Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party criticized, "From the beginning of the national investigation, I requested the public version of the National Crisis Management Basic Guidelines for the disaster sector, and many opposition lawmakers besides me also requested it, but we still have not received it. I cannot understand the insistence on not submitting the public version, which is shared with local governments, only to the National Assembly."

Committee Member Yong said, "The official name is the public version for the disaster sector. I question where it is seen that the disclosure of these basic guidelines, which local governments must continuously understand and train for disaster prevention and response, poses a significant concern that would seriously harm national interests."

He added, "Not only the materials I requested, but in fact, the materials demanded by the opposition are almost entirely not being submitted."

He pointed out, "In the first round of material requests, when opposition lawmakers inquired about the center chief’s recognition time of the disaster and the measures taken by time, they only disclosed the recognition time and meeting attendance. However, when ruling party lawmakers asked about the same matter, the response was that the information was 'separately submitted to the respective lawmaker’s office.' I don’t understand what this is supposed to mean."

Committee Member Yoon Geon-young of the Democratic Party also supported the criticism, saying, "This investigation seems extremely exceptional. Even materials that are normally submitted in other national investigations are being stubbornly withheld."

Yoon said, "In the case of the National Fire Agency, even though today is the day of the institutional briefing, as of the 26th, the day before, they replied that 'the responsible department is still preparing the documents.' The Presidential Office and National Security Office are resisting all material requests by saying 'these are effectively state secrets and cannot be submitted.' This strongly raises suspicion that there is an intention to nullify the national investigation itself."

Committee Member Jang Hye-young of the Justice Party raised her voice, saying, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety sent us the first and second round of materials, but after that, when we requested additional materials, none were received. Yet this morning, on the day of the institutional briefing, they came to the lawmaker’s office with materials from the third to tenth rounds. If the Ministry of the Interior and Safety gives materials on the morning of the briefing day, are they telling us to report this to the lawmakers or not to report it?" She then questioned, "How can a proper national investigation be conducted if materials are submitted in this manner?"

Regarding the criticism that materials are only being submitted to ruling party lawmakers, the People Power Party rebutted it as a "misunderstanding."

Committee Member Lee Man-hee of the People Power Party said, "When the ruling and opposition parties request materials, as far as I know, the agencies submit within the scope they can, regardless of whether the lawmaker is from the ruling or opposition party." He emphasized, "It is not the case that ruling party lawmakers receive much more thorough materials because the government is on the same side as the ruling party."

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