'100 Days Since the Itaewon Tragedy' Concerns Over Secondary Harm and Malicious Comments Persist

Hate Comments Flood... Bereaved Families and Survivors Suffer 'Secondary Damage'
Bereaved Families Request "Close the Comment Section"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] The Itaewon tragedy on October 29 marks its 100th day on the 4th. The bereaved families have requested the 'closure of comment sections' ahead of the 100-day memorial event due to concerns over secondary harm caused by malicious comments. Following the Itaewon tragedy, malicious comments flooded news comment boards, causing survivors and bereaved families to suffer mental distress.

The bereaved families of the Itaewon tragedy have requested portals such as Naver and Kakao, as well as media outlets, to temporarily close their comment sections.

The 10·29 Itaewon Tragedy Bereaved Families Council (the Council) announced on the 2nd that the "Itaewon Tragedy 100-day Citizen Memorial Event" will be held, stating, "To ensure a genuine time of mourning, we request cautious reporting by the media and proactive measures from media outlets and portals regarding comment sections, which have been identified as hotbeds of secondary harm."

Family members of the victims of the Itaewon tragedy attended a meeting with the members of the People Power Party's special committee for the national investigation held at the National Assembly on December 20, 2022, and broke down in tears during the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Kakao has decided to temporarily suspend its comment service. In the case of Naver, through its 'article-specific comment suspension setting' feature, each media outlet can autonomously decide whether to operate comment sections. A Naver representative said, "Since 2018, we have delegated the authority to media outlets to manage comment sections individually," adding, "We have once again notified each media outlet about the related system."

The bereaved families made this request due to concerns over secondary harm caused by malicious comments. After the Itaewon tragedy, issues of secondary harm targeting victims and their families escalated significantly, with fake news, defamation, sexual harassment, and hateful comments rampant.

There have also been victims harmed by malicious comments. In December last year, a teenage survivor of the Itaewon tragedy, referred to as A, who had been suffering mental distress due to malicious comments, took their own life. In an interview with MBC, the bereaved family stated, "They were very angry seeing comments that seemed to insult their deceased friends." On the 1st, the Bereaved Families Council demanded six measures from the government, including statements and plans to prevent secondary harm.

Regarding the Itaewon tragedy in which 158 people died, Mina Kim, a member of the People Power Party and city councilor of Changwon, Gyeongnam, who made offensive remarks, is making an official apology statement at the 2nd plenary session of the 120th City Council held on the afternoon of December 13 last year. She stated, "Although I am a public official as a council member, I posted inappropriate content on my personal SNS," and added, "I bow my head and deeply reflect as I apologize to the citizens and bereaved families who were deeply hurt by my wrongful words." Photo by Yonhap News

Controversy also arose in the political sphere due to offensive remarks related to the Itaewon tragedy. In December last year, Kim Mina, a member of the People Power Party and councilor of Changwon City, Gyeongnam, posted derogatory comments on Facebook about the victims and bereaved families of the Itaewon tragedy, such as "Did they die saving the country?" and "Corpse-selling people."

In response, the Changwon City Council, considering recommendations from civilian experts (Ethics Review Advisory Committee) that expulsion was the most appropriate disciplinary action, submitted an expulsion motion to the plenary session after going through the Ethics Special Committee. However, the motion was ultimately rejected, allowing Kim to retain her council seat. Instead, Kim received a 30-day suspension from attending sessions, but this penalty has been criticized as ineffective. Since council members continued to receive their salaries, it was effectively considered a 'paid leave.'

Meanwhile, as serious secondary harm caused by malicious comments and fake news continues, a bill aimed at preventing secondary harm through comments has been proposed as a countermeasure.

On the 26th, Han Junho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, introduced a partial amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., to protect bereaved families and survivors by prohibiting media outlets and portals from operating comment sections on articles related to social disasters. The bill also includes a provision to impose fines of 20 million KRW or more if media outlets or portals continue to operate comment sections on disaster-related articles such as the Itaewon tragedy.