hankyoreh

A person sits on the steps leading out of Itaewon Station’s Exit 1, near the site of the deadly crowd crush on Halloween weekend, to write a message to victims on Nov. 1 (Kim Myoung-jin/The Hankyoreh)

A flood of calls to emergency services on the dangerous situation unfolding in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood started coming in around four hours before the deadly crowd crush that occurred there on Saturday.

Some of the people calling used phrases like “I thought I was going to get crushed” and “people are falling down.”

Previously, the South Korean government maintained that there was no “manual” for situations like this, and that there was no way it could have predicted the desperate situation that occurred. Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min went so far as to say that there were “not so many people there as to warrant special concerns.”

But the content of calls to the 112 emergency services number that were made public Tuesday offers shocking proof of how shameless this excuse-making from the government has been. Now it finds itself faced with a serious question: Where was the state when it should have been taking responsibility for the public’s lives and safety?

“I thought I might get crushed to death. It was chilling. No one is controlling it.” (6:34 pm)

“People are falling down on the street right now.” (8:33 pm)

“People are practically getting crushed to death.” (8:35 pm)

The terrifying situation that was happening in Itaewon was fully captured in these emergency calls from the public. Screams could even be heard from the people making the calls.

At least 11 calls were reportedly made to urgently alert authorities to the signs of danger. But in seven of these cases, police were found not even to have checked on the situation on the ground.

Concerns about the potential for safety hazards at the first social distancing-free Halloween in three years were also reportedly raised at a meeting among the police, Yongsan District officials, and merchant groups held on Oct. 26, three days before the tragedy. According to some news outlets, the Yongsan Police Station intelligence division submitted a report a few days before the weekend warning of the risk of safety issues.

But even when anyone could have predicted that the neighborhood would be overcrowded, the authorities all adopted a hands-off approach — for the very superficial reason that it was “not a reported festival.” We can only conclude that this kind of irresponsible attitude is what led to the complacent response to the 112 calls.

Under the circumstances, the fact that the government had been effectively shrugging its shoulders for several days sparks feelings not just of anger but of despair.

In addition to Lee’s gaffe, we also saw an absurd remark from an official with the presidential office, who said that police “do not have the legal or institutional authority to control members of the public when it is not a situation like an assembly or demonstration.” There was no sign of the attitude of public officials duly assuming responsibility for the public’s life and safety.

It was not until three days after the fact that Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun admitted that “there were multiple 112 reports on the severity of the situation, but the response at the scene was inadequate.”

The admission and apology were quite late in coming. The KNPA has said that it plans to set up a special independent body to investigate the situation, but it’s unclear how far the findings can be trusted.

The proper thing would be for Lee Sang-min to resign at once. If he made such remarks without having received a report on the 112 calls, he is not fit to be a regular government employee, let alone a Cabinet minister.

Now that it has become clear that this tragedy could have been prevented if the government had responded properly, the government should apologize and investigate things thoroughly to determine where the responsibility lies.

On Tuesday, the first victims’ coffins were borne out. We cannot truly say goodbye to them until we know the cause behind their tragic deaths. Any measures we take to prevent more tragedies like this will be inadequate if we do not establish exactly who or what was responsible.

Our tearful grieving must go hand in hand with cold, hard scrutiny.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]