Itaewon – A New “Man-Made Disaster”, A New Ground for Political Struggles

View of Itaewon Street. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Itaewon Halloween tragedy that killed 156 people came at a knotty time for President Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative political novice. It is impossible not to compare this fallout with the sinking of the Sewol ferry that resulted in the death of 304 people eight years ago, a painful memory that continues to haunt South Korea today. With the already low approval rating dropping by another 1.5%, Yoon Suk-yeol has to confront a difficult political challenge just two months into office. 

Swift Response, but A Denied Accountability 

Although crowd surge is not uncommon, Yoon’s government is criticized for the lack of preparedness and poor crowd management despite the anticipated scale of attendees. Itaewon, a vibrant multicultural city, is renowned for its nightlife. Yet, on a night of Halloween celebration amidst loosened COVID restrictions, Only 58 police were in uniform to guard the safety of as many as 130,000 people, while 79 were undercover to crack down drug-related crimes. Far more officers, according to Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, were dispatched to another part of Seoul in response to anti-government protests. While some may note that once the crowd started acting like waves the police were unable to control the movement, proper planning and information on the danger of crowd surge could have reduced the risk. Moreover, the police station answered only four of the eleven emergency calls. When the Seoul City Government tried to contact the Yongsan Ward office to ask it to send out mobile alerts as the crowd crush worsened, the calls were unanswered for 78 minutes. 

The swift response of Yoon Suk-yeol to the tragedy reveals his fear of repeating a political debacle akin to the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, which also resulted in the deaths of mostly high school students. The Park Geun-hye administration faced massive criticism for her “missing seven hours” following the sinking, a crucial factor that led to her impeachment in late 2016. Learning the lessons, Yoon immediately commanded officials to do their best to rescue the victims, held emergency meetings, and declared a period of nationwide mourning after visiting the scene of the incident himself. 

However, when it comes to who to hold accountable for turning the crowd surge into a deadly scene, Yoon Suk-yeol took a defensive approach. “I will strictly demand accountability from those responsible,” said Yoon at a press conference. The launch of a special investigation into Chief of the Yongsan Fire Station Choi Seong-beom for alleged negligence to the tragedy sparked public anger, as it was revealed that Choi and his team worked tirelessly as the control tower of the rescue operation when the Seoul mayor, the head of Yongsan-gu District Office, nor the head of Yongsan Police Station were present at the scene. “No firefighter can hold their heads up in light of this tragedy, but holding Choi responsible is like making the 70,000 firefighters a scapegoat,” says a union of Korean firefighters in a released statement. Meanwhile, Yoon fortifies the ongoing investigations into the left-leaning former President Moon Jae-in and Lee Jae-myung, his opponent in the presidential election, to draw attention away from the incident. 

Another “Man-Made Disaster” After A Series of Nightmares? 

Before this incident, the President has already been grappling with the intense political polarization in the country. On Oct 22, around 20,000 people took part in a rally led by leftist labor unions and civil groups who also organized the “candlelight protests” against Park’s administration in 2016. After the new tragedy that came just seven days later, Yoon’s political vulnerability created even more tension and space for bitter division. “What happened in Itaewon is no doubt a man-made disaster, and it was caused by the incompetence of the administration in office,” said Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). 

Some analysts claim that the political left is politicizing the nation’s traumatic memories to mobilize citizens to topple Yoon’s administration in the wake of this new incident. “There is no one saying he’s sorry. Only people trying to avoid taking responsibility, like the captain and the crew who left the Sewol ferry to sink, “ said Rep. Hong Hye-in of the minor progressive Basic Income Party, referring to the political fallout in 2014. In the past, political unrest due to poor management of major crises and accidents befell mostly conservative governments. Even before Park’s administration, a series of disasters under Kim Young-Sam’s presidency had already plagued the country – The sinking of MV Seohae in 1993 that killed 292 people, the Seongsu Bridge collapse in 1994 that killed 32 people, and the Sampoong Department Store collapse in 1995 that killed 502 people. 

One particular leftist theory blames Yoon’s decision to move the presidential office to Yongsan District, where the police forces are mostly being used to escort the president in face of emergencies and protests instead of ensuring public safety. “The cause of the Itaewon disaster is a human resource problem that happened because of the relocation of the Blue House,” said Nam Young-hee, Vice President Nam Young-hee of the Institute for Democracy, a DPK think tank. 

“Stop ‘Politicizing the Tragedy’” Versus The Women’s Response 

In response to massive criticisms from the left, the ruling People Power Party refuted, “Now is not to get off track with blame. The Democratic Party is politicizing the tragedy and engaging in divisive rhetoric at a time when the country needs to heal.” In sync with the ruling party, the National Police Agency released a report warning that “some progressive-leaning groups could call for the government to resign” if the calls to hold the government accountable persist. In particular, it directs attention to the possibility that women’s rights groups would weaponize the gender ratio of the victims – around 65% of them were women – to denounce the government’s plans to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. 

The Women’s Rights civil groups hit back by pointing out that the police are the ones who treat the incident politically. Kwon Soo-hyun, the President of the Korea Women’s Political Solidarity, said that“With the position of the National Policy Agency weakened under the Yoon administration, the report looks as though police are trying to impress the government.” 

Future of the Despair of Young and Old Generations

The conversation should not end at different groups’ accusation of failure, though recognizing accountability is the first step towards rectification. Why is the country repeating the same tragedy– the nightmare of the young generations and their despairing families – is a question for everyone to ponder. Only when all units of the society start facing the failure of authority, the unresolved tension between neoliberalism and social welfare, the public’s lack of knowledge on crowd surges, and the structural social pressure imposed upon young people can the wound be healed.