{"id":2199288,"date":"2022-10-31T13:34:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T13:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199288"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:04","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:04","slug":"what-we-know-so-far-about-the-itaewon-tragedy-and-what-could-come-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/10\/what-we-know-so-far-about-the-itaewon-tragedy-and-what-could-come-next\/","title":{"rendered":"What we know so far about the Itaewon tragedy, and what could come next"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Koreans awoke Sunday to news of one of the most horrific and deadly tragedies in the country\u2019s history, after more than 150 people predominantly in their 20s died overnight in a massive crowd crush while celebrating Halloween in Seoul.<\/p>\n
New details about what led to the disaster in a narrow alleyway in the popular international neighborhood of Itaewon continue to emerge, and the death toll could rise further as more than 30 survivors remain in critical condition.<\/p>\n
But while questions remain about the city\u2019s crowd control policies and why there weren\u2019t more police present, and as conspiracies spread online about what exactly happened and why, it\u2019s clear that the tragedy has already shaken a country that lives with the collective trauma of similar disasters in its recent past and of the government\u2019s failure to protect its people.<\/p>\n
The tragedy is all but certain to dominate political and social discourse in the coming weeks and months. If the Sewol ferry disaster of 2014 is any indication, the Yoon administration and Seoul city government will face intense public scrutiny over their response, with potentially far-reaching implications for South Korean politics and even foreign policy.<\/p>\n
And in a nation as divided as South Korea, investigators and officials now face the daunting task of determining exactly what went wrong, assigning blame and devising countermeasures in a way that allows people in mourning to find answers and make sense of the shocking loss of life \u2014 all while ensuring this does not happen again.<\/p>\n