Yong Hye-in: "People Who Lost Children Even Stop Eating... Ruling Party Must Communicate on Itaewon Special Act"

"Baseless Opposition Delays Bill Discussion"
Opposition Party Plans to Designate Fast-Track at the Plenary Session on the 30th

Yong Hye-in, a member of the Basic Income Party, urged the enactment of a special law to investigate the Itaewon disaster on the 23rd, commenting on the bereaved families' hunger strike. She said, "It has been just over 230 days since they lost their children, and when people who have lost their children even stop eating to make their voices heard, shouldn't we at least listen to what they are demanding, even if there are disagreements?" She called on the ruling party, which opposes the special law, to initiate communication with the bereaved families first.

On the same day, Yong appeared on YTN Radio's 'News King with Park Ji-hoon' and said, "The People Power Party knows that each clause of the special law can be adjusted and coordinated during the subcommittee review process, but they have been fundamentally saying 'discussion is impossible' and 'we oppose it,' which led the bereaved families to go on a hunger strike."

The day before, the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee tabled the Itaewon special law, jointly proposed by 183 opposition lawmakers last April, and referred it to the second subcommittee for bill review. The ruling party opposed it, claiming it politicizes the disaster, while the opposition announced plans to designate the special law as a fast-track bill at the plenary session on the 30th.

On October 20th, Lee Jeong-min, Acting Representative of the Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association (left), and Choi Seon-mi, a committee member of the association and mother of the late Park Ga-young, a victim, began a hunger strike in front of the National Assembly in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, urging the enactment of a special law for the Itaewon disaster. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Yong said, "The special law was not tabled due to the ruling party's opposition, but after a reflection period, it was finally automatically tabled yesterday," adding, "It is very regrettable that the bill discussion has been delayed so far due to baseless opposition."

She continued, "The bereaved families have been requesting meetings regarding the Itaewon disaster special law even before Kim Gi-hyeon was elected as the leader of the People Power Party, but there has been no response so far," and added, "I hope People Power Party lawmakers and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will visit the bereaved families directly and have a conversation with them."

She also asserted, "What the bereaved families want to know is not political strife."

Yong said, "There are things the bereaved families want to know," and added, "I confirmed with the minister yesterday (at the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee) whether 'the last moments of the 159 victims,' 'what emergency relief measures each victim received and how they were transported,' and 'if there had been better optimal measures, how many could have been saved' were confirmed, and the minister said none of these three have been confirmed."

Yong questioned, "They said they created hundreds of investigative committees, so if they have established investigative bodies for many disasters, why not for the Itaewon disaster?"

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