Welfare Minister: "Doctor Car Boarding Inappropriate"... Opposition Launches Intense Assault on First Day of Itaewon National Investigation

Some Democratic Party Lawmakers Criticized for Obstructing Disaster Site
Welfare Minister Says "New Doctor Car Boarding Inappropriate"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the first day of the National Assembly's special committee on the Itaewon disaster investigation on the 27th, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the government's inadequate submission of materials and the role of the disaster control tower. The agencies reporting that day included the Presidential Office's National Situation Room, the National Security Office Crisis Management Center, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the National Police Agency, the Fire Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and the Yongsan Police Station.

Opposition committee members focused their attacks on Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min's responsibility, the on-site reporting line, and flaws in the command system, while ruling party members counterattacked by pointing out the inappropriate behavior of Democratic Party lawmakers Seo Young-kyo and Shin Hyun-young.

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min attended the plenary meeting of the Special Committee on the Itaewon Disaster State Investigation held at the National Assembly on the 27th and is seen talking with Visit Kyu, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Ruling and Opposition Parties Tense from Material Submission

At the Itaewon disaster special committee meeting held at the National Assembly from 10 a.m. that day, criticism of the government's passive submission of materials poured out immediately as the Q&A session began, mainly from opposition party special committee members.

Yong Hye-in, a member of the Basic Income Party, said, "From the beginning of the investigation, I requested the public version of the national crisis management basic guidelines for disasters, and many opposition lawmakers besides me also requested it, but we still have not received it," adding, "I cannot understand the insistence on not submitting the public version, which is shared with local governments, only to the National Assembly."

Yong said, "The opposition's requested materials have basically not been submitted at all," and added, "However, when ruling party lawmakers asked about the same matter, the response was that the materials were separately submitted to the respective lawmakers' offices. I don't know what they are trying to do."

Yoon Gun-young, a Democratic Party member, supported this, saying, "It seems they are stubbornly refusing to submit even materials that are normally submitted in other investigations," and added, "It raises strong suspicion that there is an intention to nullify the investigation itself."

Jang Hye-young of the Justice Party also said, "Materials were only given today, the day of the agency report," showing a thick booklet of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 3rd to 10th data. He raised his voice, saying, "Are we supposed to review this if given in the morning, or are we told not to review it?"

In response to the criticism that materials were only submitted to ruling party lawmakers, the People Power Party rebutted it as a "misunderstanding."

Lee Man-hee, a People Power Party member, said, "When the ruling and opposition parties request materials, as far as I know, the agencies submit them 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."

Woo Sang-ho, Chairman of the National Assembly Itaewon Disaster Special Committee, is questioning Lee Sang-min, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, during an on-site investigation at the Seoul Situation Center of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in the Government Seoul Office Building on the 23rd. Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Opposition: Disaster Safety Control Tower is Presidential Office, Total Failure

The Democratic Party focused on questioning the failure of the control tower to operate properly during the disaster.

Lee Hae-sik, a Democratic Party member, said, "The guidelines specify the president as the disaster safety control tower," and asked Han Oh-seop, head of the National Situation Room, and Minister Lee Sang-min, "Where is the disaster safety control tower?"

In response, Han said, "President Yoon Seok-yeol stated that he is the disaster control tower, and through several meetings afterward, he said the president is the final person responsible for the lives and safety of the people." However, Minister Lee gave a different answer, saying, "I think I am the control tower at the practical level."

Lee Hae-sik rebutted, citing the basis in the national crisis management basic guidelines, saying, "The control towers for national crisis management are the National Security Office and the Presidential Office." This emphasized that President Yoon Seok-yeol holds the ultimate responsibility for this incident.

Yoon Gun-young of the same party focused on the fact that Minister Lee, who claimed to be the control tower, received the report later than the president. Yoon asked, "The disaster occurred at 10:15 p.m., but the president was informed 48 minutes later, the Minister of the Interior and Safety 65 minutes later, and the Prime Minister 87 minutes later. Is this normal?"

He also introduced cases of failure in situation transmission, saying, "When Level 1 was declared, the Seoul Mayor took 37 minutes, Kim Kwang-ho, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, 53 minutes, and Yoon Hee-geun, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, 89 minutes. Did the control tower function properly?" He added, "Just looking at the reporting times by agency, the control tower on that day was a total failure," pointing out, "Situation transmission and initial response did not work, and the golden time was missed."

On the other hand, Cho Eun-hee of the People Power Party emphasized the speed of response by the Presidential Office, saying it was faster than the previous administration.

Cho mentioned the Gangwon Province wildfire during the Moon Jae-in administration, saying, "President Yoon's first order during the Itaewon disaster was three hours faster than former President Moon's order during the Goseong wildfire. President Yoon also visited the crisis management center 2 hours and 30 minutes earlier." She added, "The time taken to visit the site was 11:43 p.m. for President Yoon and 20 hours and 23 minutes for former President Moon."

On the 27th, a full meeting of the Special Committee for the National Investigation on the Itaewon Disaster was held at the National Assembly. Attending the meeting were Han O-seop, Director of the Presidential Office's 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@

Ruling Party Highlights 'Fighting' at Memorial and Doctor Car Controversy

On that day, ruling party special committee members launched a counterattack by mentioning some opposition lawmakers who caused controversy related to the Itaewon disaster.

Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young-kyo's shouting of "Fighting" at the recent Itaewon disaster memorial and Shin Hyun-young's controversy over riding a doctor car were brought into the spotlight.

Jeon Ju-hye, a People Power Party member, said, "There are reports that Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Hyun-young rode the doctor car from Myongji Hospital and stopped by her home, arriving at the site about 15 to 20 minutes late," adding, "We need to specifically investigate what work the Myongji Hospital doctor car performed after arriving."

In the afternoon, Jeon also pointed out, "According to materials received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Shin expressed her intention to ride along in the minister's official car," and added, "Because of that, the vice minister could not ride along."

Park Sung-min, from the same party, also criticized Shin, saying, "Isn't it possible that someone who has not completed the Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) training obstructed the ambulance?" Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong responded, "I consider it an inappropriate act that does not comply with the disaster emergency medical response manual."

They also pointed out that Shin used the 'disaster hotline (direct line)' number of Myongji University Hospital. Park asked Cha Myung-il, director of the emergency medical office, "Did you provide the hotline number to lawmaker Shin on that day?" and Cha answered, "Yes."

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