[Initial Reaction] "We Will Ensure No Citizens Shed Tears Over Safety"

"We will make sure that not a single citizen sheds tears because of safety."

On April 13, 2017, one month before the presidential election, then Moon Jae-in, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, wrote this. It was in front of the families of the Sewol ferry victims, humidifier disinfectant victims, and Samsung Electronics semiconductor victims. They were all people who had to send off their beloved family members due to the absence of safety. Moon, then a presidential candidate, also promised the public that if he came to power, he would "prioritize the protection of citizens' lives and safety, and make the country a place where all citizens can live safely." A month later, he was inaugurated as president, and since then, he repeatedly emphasized that he would "build a 'Safe Republic of Korea' capable of responding to disasters at all times."

And now, five years later, does South Korea have a 'safety fence'? On the contrary, it even feels like the safety system has become looser than before. Since the inauguration of the Roh Moo-hyun administration in February 2003 until recently, about 330 people have died in large-scale fires (a total of 30 cases with 806 injuries), of which about half, 158 deaths (398 injuries), occurred during the Moon Jae-in administration. Compared to 63 deaths (28 injuries) under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, 59 deaths (134 injuries) under the Lee Myung-bak administration, and 50 deaths (246 injuries) under the Park Geun-hye administration, the difference is clear. The large-scale fires referred to here are those with five or more deaths, or ten or more casualties, or property damage exceeding 5 billion won.

When comparing only 'super-large fires' with more than 20 deaths at once, the reality of a 'less safe Korea' becomes even clearer. Since the inauguration of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, a total of five super-large fires have occurred, three of which happened during President Moon's tenure. The 2008 Gyeonggi Icheon cold storage fire (40 deaths, 10 injuries) occurred under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and the 2014 Jeonnam Jangseong nursing hospital fire (22 deaths, 6 injuries) under the Park Geun-hye administration. In the past 14 years, only two super-large fires occurred, but during this administration, three occurred: the 2017 Chungbuk Jecheon Sports Center fire (29 deaths, 40 injuries), the 2018 Gyeongnam Miryang Sejong Hospital fire (45 deaths, 147 injuries), and the 2020 Gyeonggi Icheon logistics warehouse construction site fire (38 deaths, 10 injuries).

Of course, President Moon offered condolences and apologies whenever a major disaster occurred and pledged thorough preparation for the future. "We will thoroughly investigate the causes and response process at the government-wide level" (Jecheon Sports Center fire), "We will pay special attention to safety management and accurately identify the cause of the fire" (Miryang Sejong Hospital fire), "We will take all necessary measures to prevent recurrence of such accidents" (Icheon logistics warehouse construction site fire).

President Moon was never lazy in emphasizing 'safety' both during his candidacy and after taking office. However, a proper safety fence has never been established. Was the phrase "We will make sure that not a single citizen sheds tears because of safety" merely a political slogan? How should we understand the situation where, following the April 5 fire at a cold storage construction site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province that killed three firefighters, there was another accident on the 11th at an apartment construction site in Gwangju where the building's exterior wall collapsed, leaving six workers missing?

We cannot help but ask what the Moon Jae-in administration has truly changed over the past five years. Should the repeated superficial responses and half-hearted conclusions be accepted as another example of this administration's trademark 'double standards'? Or should we just resign ourselves to the idea that politics is simply like that? I want to hear the answers to these questions not from President Moon but from the two presidential candidates. Will you be different?