Itaewon Tragedy, Why Did the Disaster System Fail?... Expert Public Hearing on National Investigation Today

8 Participants Recommended by Ruling and Opposition Parties for Presentation and Discussion
Family Members to Join Meeting Possibly on the 12th
Ruling Party "3 Members" vs Opposition "23 Members" Conflict Until the Last Moment

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The Special Committee for the National Investigation into the Itaewon Disaster will hold an expert public hearing on the 10th to discuss measures to prevent recurrence. This is the first schedule following the committee's agreement to extend the investigation period by ten days to fully complete the national investigation.

On the afternoon of the same day, the Special Committee will conduct a public hearing at the National Assembly with experts in attendance. Experts recommended by both the ruling and opposition parties, four from each side, are expected to discuss recurrence prevention measures together with the committee members during the hearing.

Presenters include Professor Cha Ji-ho from the Graduate School of Future Strategy at KAIST and Professor Lee Kyung-won from Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yongin Severance Hospital. The discussion panel will include six participants: former Senior Administrator Kang Jung-gu from the Blue House National Crisis Management Center, Professor Kim Jang-han from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ulsan University, Professor Byun Soo-nam from the Department of Fire and Disaster Administration at Dong-Eui University, Professor Kim Hak-kyung from the Department of Convergence Security Engineering at Sungshin Women’s University, President Jung Sang-man of the Korea Disaster Safety Technology Institute, and Professor Jung Jong-su from the Department of Disaster Safety Management at Soongsil University.

A committee official stated, "During this national investigation process, it was revealed that although the disaster response system was sufficiently established, it did not operate effectively during the actual disaster. The discussion will focus on ways to supplement this issue," adding, "The measures discussed on this day will later be compiled into the final report."

On the same day, the ruling and opposition party secretaries of the Special Committee plan to decide on a detailed schedule for a future meeting involving bereaved families, merchants, and survivors through consultation. The meeting is expected to take place as early as the 12th.

Previously, the secretaries of both parties had been in a standoff over whether to summon Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min as a witness along with the bereaved families for the meeting. However, it is now known that the direction is leaning toward not calling institutional witnesses, including Minister Lee. Accordingly, it is highly likely that the meeting will be held in the form of a roundtable where committee members and reference persons can speak freely, rather than the originally requested hearing by the bereaved families.

However, discussions between the ruling and opposition parties are ongoing regarding how many bereaved family members will participate. A committee official explained, "The People Power Party intends to allow only three bereaved family members to attend, whereas the bereaved families and the Democratic Party insist on calling all 23 who applied. It seems that a compromise will be reached among them."

After conducting the expert public hearing and the bereaved families’ meeting, the Special Committee plans to begin preparations for adopting the final report on the last day of the extended period, the 17th. The final report is expected to include detailed accountability of related officials, including Minister Lee and Park Hee-young, the Mayor of Yongsan District.

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