{"id":2199310,"date":"2022-11-01T10:54:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T10:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199310"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:03","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:03","slug":"why-yoon-suk-yeol-may-escape-blame-for-south-koreas-halloween-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/11\/why-yoon-suk-yeol-may-escape-blame-for-south-koreas-halloween-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Yoon Suk-yeol may escape blame for South Korea\u2019s Halloween tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Itaewon crowd crush that killed over 150 people has left South Korea reeling. The president announced a national mourning period, and there will likely be multiple investigations that dominate public consciousness for months or even years from now.<\/span><\/p>\n In a highly polarized society like South Korea, all eyes are on the Yoon administration and how it will proceed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are already signs of coming politicization. Nam Young-hee, vice president of the Democratic Party\u2019s (DP) <\/span>think tank<\/span><\/a>, said, “This accident occurred because of the Blue House relocation. Yoon should resign.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another DP lawmaker, Ko Min-jung, said, “No government official has made a sincere apology. It is unbearable.\u201d DP leader Lee Jae-myung said, \u201cThe entire incident happened because of the government\u2019s incompetence.\u201d Left-leaning <\/span>media<\/span><\/a> have also <\/span>begun to promote<\/span><\/a> or at least <\/span>entertain the idea<\/span><\/a> that the Itaewon crush disaster was due to oversights from the Yoon administration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But it\u2019s not clear whether these attacks will stick. President Yoon responded to the crush quickly, convening an emergency meeting at midnight and immediately issuing a statement. While his interior minister was forced to walk back comments he made about whether more police would have helped that night, the administration has thus far avoided becoming the focal point of public outrage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At this time, it\u2019s difficult to point to one single factor that may have saved 156 lives that night. But a look back at other large-scale disasters in South Korea may prove instructive in understanding who will be blamed, who will fall on their sword, and what the government may or may not do in response.<\/span><\/p>\n TRAGIC HISTORY<\/b><\/p>\n Like any country, South Korea has experienced a number of tragic incidents over the decades. Some incidents remain vivid in the popular memory, while others have been largely forgotten.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In Oct. 1993, for example, a passenger ship sank off the west coast and <\/span>killed 292 people<\/span><\/a>. President Kim Young-sam fired the <\/span>transportation minister<\/span><\/a>, but the incident soon faded from memory and there were relatively few other repercussions.<\/span><\/p>\n In April 1995, a gas explosion occurred during subway construction work in the southeast city of Daegu, killing 101, including some middle school students. But this incident failed to produce a national outcry or major consequences for the central government (though the president and prime minister at the time <\/span>issued a statement<\/span><\/a> of \u201cregret\u201d and an apology, respectively).<\/span><\/p>\n Most of the criticism stayed at the municipal level, and the same would happen after a deadly arson incident on the Daegu subway 7 years later that killed nearly 200 people. The Daegu mayors kept their jobs after both disasters, and bereaved families and loved ones reached a settlement with the city.<\/span><\/p>\n Political consequences were more severe for disasters in the capital. On Oct. 21, 1994, Seoul\u2019s Seongsu Bridge collapsed into the Han River during the morning rush hour, killing 32 and injuring another 17.<\/span><\/p>\n The mayor of Seoul (at that time appointed by the president) was dismissed, and President Kim Young-sam delivered a televised apology to the nation. The opposition <\/span>introduced a motion<\/span><\/a> of no confidence for the <\/span>entire presidential cabinet<\/span><\/a>, but it was voted down at the National Assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n The capital was rocked again the following year when the Sampoong Department Store collapsed on June 29, 1995, killing 502 people and injuring 937, to date the deadliest peacetime disaster in ROK history. The owner of Sampoong received a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence and died shortly after his release, while municipal-level officials also received jail time.<\/span><\/p>\n President Kim Young-sam issued a statement of condolences, but there was comparatively little political fallout at the executive level. Part of the reason may have been due to a major divide within the liberal camp caused by Kim Dae-jung\u2019s <\/span>return from retirement<\/span><\/a> and formation of a new political party, while conservatives were in recovery mode after <\/span>major defeats<\/span><\/a> at the polls in recent elections.<\/span><\/p>\n The bridge and department store incidents had a palpable impact on the president’s approval rating, however. Kim had a stratospheric <\/span>90% approval rating<\/span><\/a> when he entered office in 1993, but this dropped to <\/span>some 30%<\/span><\/a> by the fall of 1995.<\/span><\/p>\n