Facing up to the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster…
Sean Hong(Policy Research Team)
Translated into English by Alice S. Kim(Translate Team)
It is the early morning of October 31st, the second day since the Itaewon disaster. Although less than the day of the disaster, we are still receiving inquiries regarding missing persons and victims: “I think my daughter/son went to Itaewon, but she/he still hasn't come home.” “My friend went to Itaewon that day but I still cannot get through to him/her.” Sticking to the guidelines, I file the report of the missing person and provide the caller with the contact information as to where he or she could find out the names of the victims of the disaster. Today, as usual, as the hour approaches 3AM, well into the early hours of the morning, the phone stops ringing all of a sudden, as if it had been silent all along, as I take a deep breath.
However, after a short while, the phone is ringing again breaking the silence. When I answer the line, I hear a frail voice through the headset. He says he is a nurse who participated in the rescue work at the Itaewon disaster site. He says he is having a difficult time and asks if there is a place where he could receive counseling. In accordance with the counseling guidelines, I provide the contact information where he can receive professional counseling and end the call. However, after taking a short break, as I get ready to take another call, the same number appears again. He says he is unable to get through to the contact number I had provided. The moment I hear his frail voice again, I decide he needs to talk to someone and I ask him what feels most difficult right now. Then suddenly, he says he is sorry for not being able to save them and starts to cry. My heart pounding all of a sudden, and my voice trembling slightly, I tell him that it was not his responsibility but that of the public authorities such as the police who failed to prevent the disaster, and that he should not blame himself. Then I recommend that he call the number again to receive professional counseling. He says he understands and appearing to have calmed down a bit, hangs up the phone.
The site of the disaster wherein more than 150 people died. At the site of the 10.29 Itaewon disaster, someone loses a family member, as another loses a friend. In the hearts of the survivors who witnessed the death of countless lives are engraved scars that may never heal. Some of the survivors would have witnessed people dying right in front of them.
In this way, the disaster not only leaves large numbers of deceased and wounded victims, but also the unbearable suffering of many who were with them. And as some of them may go on to make a desperate choice of their own they may yet become additional future victims. The survivors of the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store on June 29, 1995, which claimed the lives of more than 500 people, say that after nearly thirty years, they still live in pain haunted by vivid memories of that day. And what about the 4.16 Sewol ferry disaster, in which more than 300 people lost their lives? The truth of the disaster still unknown, the time of the bereaved family members came to a halt on April 16, 2014. The number of victims continues to increase as some of the survivors and bereaved family members have made extreme choices to take their own lives. The number of victims will continue to rise unless the truth is disclosed.
At present, a police investigation of the 10.29 Itaewon disaster is underway, and a government investigation is being requested by the National Assembly. However, the Yoon Seok-yeol government is not asking anyone for accountability. The day after the disaster, Yoon declared a period of mourning, set up an incense burner without anynames or portraits, and told the nation to grieve. And even as the government’s mistakes come to light one by one, it is clear that they are merely trying to find a scapegoat and ceremoniously cut off its tail. If this tragedy ends without proper clarification of the truth, no punishment for responsible parties, and no genuine apology, more victims may arise from people making extreme choices as in the aftermath of the 4.16 Sewol ferry disaster. At the same time, the danger of another potential disaster lurks on the horizon.
Accidents can occur in any form in our shared spaces of life and work. However, in cases where the accident could have been prevented in advance, yet people are killed from the neglect of corporations or the state, those cases are not accidents but murder. And if there are a large number of victims of the disaster, how is it any different than a massacre?