The South Korean government’s morphing response to its failure in Itaewon



Analysis The South Korean government’s morphing response to its failure in Itaewon Some officials are taking responsibility for deadly crush, but may be too late to stop public outrage from boiling over John LeeNovember 3, 2022 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON Chief of Korean National Police Agency Yoon Hee-geun saluting ahead of a virtual meeting with chiefs of provincial police agencies, Aug. 11, 2022. \| Image: Korean National Police Agency, edited by Korea Pro Tragedy struck Seoul’s international Itaewon district last Saturday as more than a hundred thousand people went out to celebrate Halloween. As crowds began to push and shove along a narrow, sloped alleyway, people began falling on top of each other. Many couldn’t breathe. According to transcripts made public by the police, from 6:34 pm to 10:15 pm KST there were 11 emergency calls to the police from various people to report overcrowding and multiple injuries. The earliest phone call came four hours before people began dying. But for four hours, the police did almost nothing. The next day, interior © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01South Korea’s won faces a new test as foreign bond buying loses momentum 02Trump’s Russian diesel deal may leave South Korea’s refining boom intact 03Trump’s Alaska LNG claim shows who really runs the US-South Korea alliance 04South Korea’s missile defense push raises new questions over wartime stocks 05South Korea bank hacks expose weak links beyond core financial systems 06Lee-Zelensky feud exposes South Korea’s widening Ukraine policy dilemma 07Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump 08Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls

Analysis

The South Korean government’s morphing response to its failure in Itaewon

Some officials are taking responsibility for deadly crush, but may be too late to stop public outrage from boiling over

John LeeNovember 3, 2022

The South Korean government’s morphing response to its failure in Itaewon

Chief of Korean National Police Agency Yoon Hee-geun saluting ahead of a virtual meeting with chiefs of provincial police agencies, Aug. 11, 2022. | Image: Korean National Police Agency, edited by Korea Pro

Tragedy struck Seoul’s international Itaewon district last Saturday as more than a hundred thousand people went out to celebrate Halloween. As crowds began to push and shove along a narrow, sloped alleyway, people began falling on top of each other. Many couldn’t breathe.

According to transcripts made public by the police, from 6:34 pm to 10:15 pm KST there were 11 emergency calls to the police from various people to report overcrowding and multiple injuries. The earliest phone call came four hours before people began dying.

But for four hours, the police did almost nothing. The next day, interior

The South Korean government’s morphing response to its failure in Itaewon

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John Lee