[100 Days Since the Itaewon Tragedy]① The Unfinished National Inquiry Revealed by 'Numbers'

Itaewon Disaster National Investigation Report
Analyzing 716 Pages
Only Political Strife Records Like 'Drugs' and 'Shin Hyun-young Doctor Car'

"The Special Committee on the State Audit will strive to conduct a thorough investigation through the state audit to clearly identify the truth, understand why such an incident occurred, and determine where the responsibility lies. We will also work to create a safer Republic of Korea to ensure that such accidents never happen again. (December 21, 2022, Woo Sang-ho, Chairperson of the State Audit Special Committee, at the Itaewon disaster site)"

13.1%. This is the adoption rate of actual final reports among the state audit requests submitted since the 13th National Assembly (14 out of 107 cases). The 93 requests whose reports were not adopted failed to pass the National Assembly due to political conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties. Considering this precedent, the 'Itaewon Disaster State Audit,' which adopted a final report after a total of 55 days, including 29 days after the on-site investigation, can be seen as having reached its target to some extent. However, can it be said that it fulfilled the purpose of 'truth-finding and prevention of recurrence' promised by the committee members immediately after the disaster? On the 100th day since the Itaewon disaster, Asia Economy analyzed the content and significance of the 716-page final report.

'Drugs' mentioned 97 times... Truth-finding sidelined

At 10:15 p.m. on October 29, 2022, in the Itaewon-dong area of Yongsan-gu, Seoul, a tragic crush occurred in a narrow alley about 4 meters wide next to the Hamilton Hotel during Halloween, resulting in 158 deaths and 196 serious injuries, marking the worst stampede casualty in history.

The final report of the Itaewon Disaster State Audit states that the purpose of this audit is to conduct a thorough investigation into the causes of the disaster and the authorities' response before and after the incident, clearly identify responsibility, and establish measures to prevent recurrence to ensure the future safety of the public.

The Itaewon Disaster State Audit involved 18 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, 16 experts, and 22 staff members from the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee. It held eight meetings, including two on-site investigations, and summoned 103 witnesses. However, the final report contains more records of political disputes than truth-finding or prevention measures.

For example, the word "drugs" was mentioned 97 times in the audit report. This was a result of the Democratic Party focusing on discrediting Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon after criticism arose that the authorities' drug crime crackdown plan on the day of the disaster led to negligence in maintaining order. The Ministry of Justice also reported during the audit that due to the adjustment of investigative authority between the prosecution and police, the prosecution could not conduct or direct drug investigations. The Ministry of Justice was mentioned 15 times in the report.

The People Power Party focused on highlighting the 'Doctor Car controversy' involving Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Hyun-young. The name "Shin Hyun-young" appeared 26 times, and "Doctor Car" 15 times. People Power Party lawmakers argued, "Due to lawmaker Shin Hyun-young, the arrival of the Doctor Car at the scene was delayed, and unqualified personnel accessed the site, which influenced the increase in casualties; therefore, related inquiries should naturally be part of the state audit." However, the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over summoning lawmaker Shin as a witness led to the cause investigation being sidelined.

This back-and-forth between the ruling and opposition parties is also evident in the 17 mentions of the word "resignation." Instead of establishing a system to clarify causes and prevent repeated disasters, political responsibility disputes continued. There were repeated calls for the resignation of Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, Commissioner Kim Jong, and Yongsan District Mayor Park Hee-young. Minister Lee was questioned about resignation seven times.

The final report pointed out that related agencies such as the National Police Agency and Seoul City failed to prepare prior safety management measures and failed to cooperate and communicate smoothly. However, it did not clarify why the disaster control tower did not function, why the transmission and reporting system collapsed, or whether there was responsibility up to higher officials including Minister Lee. Regarding this, committee members acknowledged in the final report that "due to insufficient submission of materials, non-cooperation from government authorities, and the short investigation period, the audit could not achieve results beyond the initially anticipated limitations."

"Disasters have no partisanship and must be handled sensitively"

Kang Jeong-gu, former senior administrative officer at the Blue House National Crisis Management Center, wrote this in the expert report of the Itaewon Disaster State Audit Special Committee. He expressed hope that the national disaster crisis management system accumulated by previous governments would be improved, strengthened, and developed to build an advanced crisis management system so that large-scale disasters like the Sewol ferry disaster and the Itaewon disaster never happen again.

"Disasters do not discriminate between administrations. I believe this is not a fight against a particular administration but a fight against wrong practices within the public service."

On page 146 of the final report, there is a statement from Han Oh-seop, Director of the Presidential Office's National Situation Room, during the institutional report on the Itaewon disaster on December 27 last year. He said, "To ensure that pains like the Itaewon disaster never recur, we should use this incident not as a weapon to attack others but as wisdom to solve internal problems."

Both current and former government officials warned against partisanship and emphasized prevention measures, but their perspectives on the disaster differed. This is the core reason why this state audit ended without substance. The audit was initiated when opposition lawmakers, including Park Hong-geun, Yong Hye-in, and Lee Eun-joo, submitted a request for investigation signed by 178 opposition lawmakers on November 9 last year, eleven days after the Itaewon disaster. The opposition sought to highlight that the disaster occurred due to police forces concentrating around the Presidential Office following President Yoon Seok-yeol's relocation of the office to Yongsan, while the government and ruling party focused on blocking such claims.