Pressure weighs on Yoon over accountability in Itaewon tragedy

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee pray during a requiem mass at Myeongdong Cathedral, Jung District, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

President vows not to repeat such tragedy

By Nam Hyun-woo

With the weeklong national mourning period for victims of the Itaewon crowd crush last weekend over on Nov. 5, attention is now on how President Yoon Suk-yeol will deal with political pressure from growing criticism of the government's poor handling of the tragic incident that killed 156 people.

Over the past week, Yoon and his administration focused on mourning the deaths of the victims, the majority in their teens and 20s, taking care of those injured and investigating the cause of the tragedy, while deflecting political attacks from the opposition calling for a parliamentary investigation into the case.

Yoon visited the memorial altars set up for the victims in Seoul on a daily basis and attended religious events to offer his condolences.

"As the president who has to take responsibility for the lives and safety of the people, I feel very heartbroken and sorry," Yoon said during a Buddhist memorial service for the victims in Seoul, Friday, making his first public apology over the incident.

On Sunday, Yoon said during a meeting with his staff he cannot hide the pain and heavyheartedness he feels because the government could not protect the youth.

"Although the national mourning period is over, I, as the president, have the responsibility to prevent such a tragedy from happening again," Yoon was quoted as saying by Kim Eun-hye, his spokesperson.

"Please make every effort to make Korea a country where the loss of innocent lives does not occur again," he added.

During the mourning period, the presidential office has been trying to prevent itself from getting mired in political debates over accountability for the tragedy. Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min has been under heavy fire for his comments that the disaster could not have been prevented by the deployment of police and firefighting forces in advance, and that security forces had been dispersed due to protests in other parts of the downtown Seoul area. The ministry has been reiterating that "discovering what exactly happened during the incident should come before asking who is responsible."

The presidential office has been disclosing detailed information on Yoon's response to the incident, such as the exact timeline of Yoon getting briefed about the situation at the site. Yoon also ordered the police to reveal a transcript of emergency calls it received on Saturday night, to clarify whether the police's early response to the incident was appropriate.

As those records imply that the responses of the safety ministry and police were insufficient, calls are growing that Yoon should hold Safety Minister Lee and National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoon Hee-keun responsible, while the opposition bloc is beginning to criticize the entire Yoon administration

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has already demanded that the president replace Safety Minister Lee, Commissioner General Yoon as well as Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, whose inappropriate joke during a press conference with foreign reporters about the disaster drew fierce criticism.

Also, the DPK seeks to form a coalition with the minor opposition Justice Party to demand officially an investigation into the government, to expand its target of criticism to the entire Yoon administration.

During a press conference, Sunday, the DPK demanded that Yoon make an official apology and replace the prime minister and others who were responsible. The party also urged the ruling People Power Party to agree on the request for a probe of the government.

"News reports and investigations are finding that the president, the central and municipal governments and police are not free from their responsibility on the Itaewon disaster," the DPK said in a statement. "The government and the National Assembly are obliged to respond through thorough investigations."

DPK spokesperson An Ho-young also said the Itaewon tragedy was "a government disaster driven by the insufficient responses across the Yoon administration" and it is also "a man-made disaster" because it was triggered by the negligence and irresponsibility of the people who run the response system.

Against this backdrop, voices are also growing that the party should demand the resignation of Yoon's entire Cabinet, with former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won saying "the members of the Cabinet and the presidential office should resign for their political and moral responsibility (in the tragedy)."

On Saturday, various civic groups each held candlelight rallies across Seoul to mourn for the victims, and in some rallies held by liberal groups, participants were holding banners and placards demanding Yoon's resignation. According to reports, 60,000 people participated in the candlelight rallies.

A person, center, holds a sign that reads "President Yoon Suk-yeol should resign" during a memorial candlelight rally for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush at Seoul Plaza, Saturday. Yonhap

With pressure growing, pundits are saying Yoon's next moves on those who may have been accountable for the Itaewon tragedy could affect his administration's grip on the entirety of state affairs.

Yoon is anticipated to resume his daily impromptu interviews with reporters on his way to the presidential office, which were halted during the national mourning period. Yoon is anticipated to be asked questions about how he will handle the opposition's calls for his official apology and the replacement of key officials.

Also, sources at the presidential office said Yoon and his secretaries are contemplating making a statement about responsibilities in the tragedy. Yoon released his official statement a day after the tragedy, but it was mostly about offering condolences and helping those damaged from the incident.

For Yoon, sacking the prime minister or safety minister is a tough choice, because it will be interpreted as admitting the opposition's claim that the government is accountable for the incident.

Also, Yoon is expected to appoint Education Minister Lee Joo-ho this week, which will complete his Cabinet nearly six months after his inauguration in May. If the safety minister is replaced, there will be another vacuum in the Cabinet which will dampen the recovery of his support ratings.

According to a Gallup Korea poll, Yoon's job approval rating stood at 29 percent, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier. The poll surveyed 1,001 adults from Nov. 1 to 3 and further details are available at National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.