{"id":2200002,"date":"2023-02-06T10:14:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T10:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2200002"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:09:49","slug":"itaewon-crowd-crush-memorial-becomes-flash-point-in-political-fight-over-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/itaewon-crowd-crush-memorial-becomes-flash-point-in-political-fight-over-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Itaewon crowd crush memorial becomes flash point in political fight over tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
About 1,000 people <\/span>held<\/span><\/a> a march on Saturday to remember the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush, including 150 family members of those who died in the tragedy some 100 days ago. But clashes with squads of police officers marred the somber event as authorities attempted to stop participants from erecting an unapproved altar in front of City Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n The mourners initially planned to hold the event at nearby Gwanghwamun Square and to set up the memorial altar there. But the Seoul municipal government rejected the requests, and the police agency dispatched about <\/span>3,000 officers<\/span><\/a> to ensure mourners couldn\u2019t access the area.<\/span><\/p>\n The Seoul metropolitan office initially gave the families until Monday at 1 p.m. (KST) to remove the altar, but the memorial was still standing as of Monday evening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSome mothers [of the victims] passed out during the standoff and were <\/span>sent<\/span><\/a> to the hospital in ambulances,\u201d Cho Mi-eun, the mother of crowd crush victim Lee Ji-han, told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI saw [Seoul mayor] Oh Se-hoon <\/span>shedding tears<\/span><\/a> talking about the crowd crush. Seeing his tears, we had a small sense of hope that he might be different from other officials,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now, it all looks like hypocrisy to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So far, the Yoon administration has avoided the kind of intense public blowback that followed the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. But the heavy-handed approach to the families of the crowd crush victims by the conservative Seoul mayor, a major figure in Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s People Power Party (PPP), risks doing exactly what the government likely wishes to avoid \u2014 politicizing the tragedy.<\/span><\/p>\n DEJA VU<\/b><\/p>\n Gwanghwamun Square, which is nestled between government buildings, City Hall and the Blue House \u2014 formerly South Korea\u2019s seat of power \u2014 regularly hosts rallies and marches by groups from across the political spectrum. Most famously, it was the location where millions of South Koreans peacefully gathered for months to demand then-President Park Geun-hye\u2019s impeachment in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n The government\u2019s refusal to allow the bereaved family members to erect a memorial altar for their dead relatives in Gwanghwamun was likely because of its fear that a memorial at that location could serve as a focal point to attract broader anti-government protests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When protesters demanded Park\u2019s impeachment in 2016, they demanded investigations into <\/span>corruption allegations<\/span><\/a> and a thorough investigation into the botched rescue attempts that led to the <\/span>2014 Sewol ferry tragedy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n However, stonewalling the families from erecting their memorial altar in Gwanghwamun Square \u2014 a public space \u2014 provides ammunition for the opposition party to use against the government.<\/span><\/p>\n The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which blames the Yoon administration for failing to protect the 159 people who died due to the crowd crush event, and two other minor opposition parties <\/span>submitted a motion<\/span><\/a> in the National Assembly on Monday to impeach interior minister Lee Sang-min. The DP holds Lee primarily responsible for the tragedy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Further, DP leader Lee Jae-myung <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> at the event, \u201cI am outraged by the irresponsible and heartless actions of this government that have forced ordinary bereaved family members to turn into fighters.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGenuine healing can only begin after there has been an ascertainment of the truth and those who are responsible have been punished,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n On Sunday, parliamentary Speaker Kim Jin-pyo and the leaders of both parties, Reps. Chung Jin-suk and Lee Jae-myung, <\/span>commemorated<\/span><\/a> the victims of the Itaewon crowd disaster in a rare bipartisan ceremony held at the National Assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n But President Yoon\u2019s refusal to sack interior minister Lee Sang-min and the Seoul government\u2019s attempt to stop the family members from setting up their memorial altar in Gwanghwamun have already cemented people\u2019s perceptions: Progressives seek answers, and conservatives want to move on as quickly as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n