Category: Korea-General Topics

The Seoul mayor was not even in the city when the tragedy occurred, but nevertheless I would not be surprised if the political opposition demands that he resign:

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon apologized Tuesday over the Halloween crowd crush that killed at least 156 people.

“As the mayor of Seoul who is responsible for the lives and safety of citizens, I feel infinite responsibility for the accident and express my deepest apologies,” Oh said in a tearful voice during a news conference at his office.

“The Seoul city government will do its best to mobilize all its administrative power until all funeral procedures are completed and the bereaved families, the injured and all citizens who feel sorrow from this accident can return to their daily lives.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Investigators are not only looking into the celebrity sighting, but who started the pushing in the alley and the Yongsan district police response as well:

At the center of the claims is a suspicion raised through social media and news interviews that some people on the upper side of the sloped alley cried “push, push” and thrust other people, resulting in the deadly crush. 

Allegations have also arisen that a massive crowd of people surged into the narrow alley to see a celebrity visiting the area at that time. 

According to police officials, a police investigation is currently under way into those claims, although no criminally punishable acts have been identified so far. 

Yonhap

There was a celebrity, K-Pop singer Lee Ji-han killed in the crush so maybe he was the celebrity that witnesses were referring to?

The article goes on to state that business owners that would not let people into their businesses to escape the crush would likely not face charges:

Nam Gu-jun, chief of the National Office of Investigation, said a 475-member special investigative team had interviewed 44 eyewitnesses as of Monday and secured 52 pieces of surveillance camera footage in 42 places around the scene to determine the exact cause of the accident. 

Videos posted on social media were also being scrutinized, he said. 

Some survivors have also claimed operators of stores along the alley blocked the entrances to people fleeing the crushing crowd, although experts said it would be nearly impossible to criminally punish them for “denying voluntary rescue.” 

Many expect the investigation could also be directed toward police in charge of the precinct and the municipal government of Yongsan that administers the Itaewon neighborhood for failing to carry out advance accident prevention measures in negligence of their safety management duties.

You can read the rest at the link, but the Hamilton Hotel will also be investigated for expanding the wall in the alleyway that made it even narrower than it already was.  

It was a nice fall day which in Korea means it is a perfect time to have a protest:

Tens of thousands of conservative and progressive activists staged large-scale rallies in downtown Seoul on Saturday, chanting opposing slogans about sensitive political issues. The demonstrations ended without clashes.

Right-wing activists, including members of the far-right Liberty Unification Party, held a rally in Gwanghwamun against what they call pro-North Korea sympathizers.

Police estimated about 32,000 activists participated in the event.

Progressive activists also held an anti-government protest on nearby streets, with police projecting about 16,000 people joined the rally.

The massive rallies caused severe traffic disruptions surrounding main roads spanning from Gwanghwamun to City Hall in central Seoul.

Both sides expressed contrasting voices about sensitive political issues throughout the rallies.

Conservative activists called for the formal arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung over his alleged involvement in a corruption-laden urban development scandal.

Liberal activists, meanwhile, denounced the prosecution’s probe into Lee as “political revenge” and called on President Yoon Suk-yeol to step down.

Police initially stayed on alert to brace for possible clashes between the two sides near Samgakji, close to the presidential office in Yongsan, but there were no physical scuffles or violence.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It seems that Korean conservative party lawmakers are over playing their hand on this issue if they think they can charge former President Moon with treason:

The prosecution is under increasing pressure to investigate former President Moon Jae-in as questions emerge over who ordered the deletion of intelligence reports potentially containing clues as to how the fisheries official ended up in North Korea’s waters, where he was shot dead two years ago.

One of the key findings announced last week by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) was that the official was wearing a life jacket emblazoned with Chinese letters ― a product that cannot be found in the South Korean market. This information debunks the very basis on which the Defense Ministry argued that he, unlike other officials, was wearing a life jacket while on duty on a fishery inspection boat before jumping into the sea to defect to North Korea. Also, none of the life jackets on that boat were missing. 

Yet, such critical information was deliberately omitted from official reports in a coordinated effort to frame him as a defector, which prompted former Defense Minister Suh Wook and former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won to unlawfully remove intelligence documents from the case, according to the state auditor.

Ruling party lawmakers believe that such a coordinated move would have been impossible without former President Moon Jae-in’s direct order and are calling on the prosecution to investigate him.

“If former President Moon Jae-in left him in the hands of North Korea for the sake of an end-of-war agreement, it would be a clear act of treason.” Kim Haeng, a member of the People Power Party’s emergency measure committee, said during a meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. “The fabrication of evidence and deletion of intelligence reports would have been impossible without Moon’s orders.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it is weird that fishery official was not wearing a lifejacket from his patrol vessel, but instead a Chinese life jacket. Maybe the North Koreans gave him the lifejacket before they decided to shoot him?