A year after South Korea’s Halloween stampede, victims’ families still seek justice: ‘law won’t bring our children back’
- Families and the opposition party accuse the government of holding low and mid-level officials responsible for the disaster, and sparing top leaders
- The ruling party has objected to a bill, in limbo in parliament for months, that calls for an independent investigation into the disaster
The revellers, including 26 foreigners, were crushed to death in a narrow, hilly alleyway after huge throngs surged through the bottleneck with no police to control the crowds.
A government investigation concluded in January that police and other government agencies failed to control crowds, although an estimated 130,000 partygoers were expected.
Six key defendants, including Itaewon’s Yongsan district head Park Hee-young and Yongsan district police head Lee Im-jae, have been standing trial for more than nine months after being charged with criminal negligence and manslaughter over the tragedy. They have been released on bail.
Some of the suspects, including Seoul police chief Kim Kwang-ho, are still under investigation.
But Home Minister Lee Sang-min, who oversees public safety, refused to yield to pressure from the victims’ relatives to take responsibility for the disaster and resign from his post.
After being impeached for months by parliament, Lee returned to work in July after the Constitutional Court ruled in his favour and rejected his impeachment.
