Criticism of Lee Sang-min and Park Hee-young at 2nd Hearing
Opposition Demands Lee Sang-min's Resignation for "Failure to Prepare for Foreseeable Disaster"
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] On the 6th, Park Hee-young, mayor of Yongsan-gu, was criticized by lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties at the National Assembly hearing on the Itaewon disaster state investigation for defending the distribution of a 'false press release' about his whereabouts during last year's disaster as a "staff mistake."
On that day, Rep. Cho Su-jin of the People Power Party pointed out to Mayor Park, who appeared as a witness at the hearing, about the press release stating that he held an emergency countermeasure meeting after commanding site control on the day of the disaster. In response, Mayor Park said, "The meeting itself did not take place," and called it a "staff mistake."
In response, Woo Sang-ho, chairman of the special committee, scolded Mayor Park, asking, "Are you saying you did well?" and "You distributed false information as a press release and call it a mistake?" Mayor Park explained, "There was an error," and "I do not even know the contents of the press release."
Chairman Woo said, "How can a person in charge say such things so calmly?" and scolded, "Not all heads of local governments in South Korea are like Mayor Park. Many are working hard, but you are tarnishing their reputation."
Opposition's Focused Offensive on 'Lee Sang-min's Resignation'
On that day, the opposition party demanded the resignation of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, holding him accountable. When Rep. Cheon Jun-ho of the Democratic Party asked, "The demand for resignation is not a means of political strife but a plea from the people concerned about a safe South Korea. Will you resign?" Minister Lee replied, "I deeply sympathize and feel responsible," adding, "I will deeply engrave the words you gave me in my heart."
When Rep. Cheon asked again about his intention to resign, Minister Lee said, "Anyway, I will do my best in the position I currently hold." When asked, "Is the thought that you cannot resign your own or President Yoon Seok-yeol's?" he answered, "It is my determination and will."
Rep. Oh Young-hwan of the Democratic Party also pointed out Minister Lee's use of the term "new type of disaster" during the morning hearing, saying, "Just because it is not in the national or local government manual, do you call it a new type?" He added, "It is a failure of preparedness and responsibility for a predictable disaster that has been repeated countless times."
He continued, "I know it is difficult to implement according to the manual in the law. But we must do our best," urging resignation, "Isn't it the duty to perform the assigned role to comply with the law?"
In response to the strong resignation demands from opposition committee members that day, the ruling party defended, calling it "excessive." Lee Man-hee, a People Power Party lawmaker and ruling party special committee secretary, said, "If you excessively force resignation, declare the witness's statements as perjury, and even mention impeachment, then who and what is this hearing for?" He requested, "Chairman, please refrain from excessive remarks." In response, Kim Gyo-heung, Democratic Party secretary of the opposition, countered, "It would be better not to evaluate the questions of lawmakers."
Seoul City - Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Conflicting Statements on 'Victims' Family List'
The ruling and opposition parties also exchanged sharp disputes over whether the Ministry of the Interior and Safety received the victims' family list from Seoul City immediately after the disaster. Opposition special committee members criticized Minister Lee Sang-min for saying during the on-site investigation on the 27th of last month that "I have never received the victims' family list from Seoul City," calling it 'perjury,' and Minister Lee continued to explain. Earlier, Seoul City stated in the second institutional report to the special committee on the 29th of last month that it had shared the status data of deceased persons with contact information of the bereaved families with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety three times, causing conflicting statements.
Rep. Jang Hye-young of the Justice Party asked Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, "Did Seoul City provide the Ministry of the Interior and Safety with a list of deceased persons including the victims' family list and contact information?" Mayor Oh replied, "Yes."
Minister Lee said, "Mayor Oh's statement that Seoul City sent the victims' family list to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is true. The mistake was on the Ministry's side," explaining, "The Excel file of the deceased list sent by Seoul City had the victims' family list attached at the end, but when the Ministry received the Seoul City data, the staff did not see it. When it became an issue during the Budget and Accounts Special Committee inquiry, upon rechecking, they realized only then that the victims' family list existed."
In response, Rep. Jang said, "The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said they received contact through the One-Stop Support Center," and rebutted, "Saying in Rep. Kwon Chil-seung's Democratic Party inquiry that only Seoul City has the victims' family list is perjury." She added, "Earlier, they said they could not contact because Seoul City did not provide the list," criticizing, "The initial dispute over the victims' family list is nonsense. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety should have it because they have to support the victims' families."
Minister Lee further explained, "What we received from Seoul City three times was the 'deceased status file,'" adding, "At the very end of that file, only about 65 out of a total of 132 victims' families were listed, so it was incomplete information." He said, "I understood it as a deceased file," and added, "At least to call it a 'victims' family list,' it should include names and contact information, but we still do not have it in an organized form."
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