Yongsan District Council's Investigation into the 'Itaewon Disaster' Fails Due to People Power Party Opposition

On the 17th, memorial messages and flowers were placed at the Itaewon disaster site in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The investigation into the Itaewon disaster, proposed by the Democratic Party members of the Yongsan District Council in Seoul, was blocked.

According to the Yongsan District Council on the 21st, the agenda titled 'Request for Administrative Investigation to Ascertain the Facts and Prepare Measures Regarding the October 29 Disaster' was rejected at the 279th 2nd regular meeting held in the council chamber that day. Although all six Democratic Party council members who jointly proposed the agenda voted in favor, six of the seven People Power Party council members opposed it, with one abstention. The Yongsan District Council is composed of six Democratic Party members and seven People Power Party members.

The agenda involved the district council conducting its own fact-finding and administrative investigation to identify the causes of the Itaewon disaster and prevent recurrence. Earlier, at the temporary session on the 14th, the 'Resolution to Form a Special Committee for the Investigation and Preparation of Measures Regarding the Itaewon Disaster,' proposed by Democratic Party council members, was also rejected with six votes in favor and seven against. All People Power Party council members voted against it.

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan District, stated in the policy speech, "I feel deeply sorry and bear a heavy responsibility," adding, "We will innovate district administration by reorganizing the safety management system to ensure that such misfortunes never happen again."

However, before the main agenda was presented, when Mayor Park left the venue citing hospital treatment, dissatisfaction arose among the Democratic Party members.