After the drama, meditation. A week after the stampede in Seoul, candlelight vigils and other commemorations were held across South Korea on Saturday in memory of the 156 people killed, crushed and suffocated in a mass movement during the Halloween holiday.
But in addition to the sadness, anger is brewing in South Korea after one of the deadliest disasters to hit that country.
The mostly young victims were among some 100,000 people who flocked to the Itaewon district to celebrate Halloween for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Police authorities have admitted they deployed an insufficient number of officers for such a crowd, and the opposition has accused President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government of failing to take responsibility.
Flowers, candles and chocolates
Thousands of people gathered in central Seoul on Saturday for a candlelight vigil organized by a citizens’ group linked to South Korea’s main opposition party, with many banners calling for President Yoon Suk-yeol to resign.
The group, which had already held anti-government rallies before the disaster, said similar vigils were also being held in other cities, including Busan, Gwangju and Jeju.
And in Itaewon, at a subway exit near the site of the Halloween disaster, a flood of tributes in the form of white flowers and post-it notes could be seen.
On one of them was written: “I won’t let you go next time.” In another: “I will remember you forever.”
Mourners also left behind chocolates, beer, soju – a Korean alcoholic beverage – and strawberry milk.
“They let our babies die”
Image of public anger when a woman was seen smashing wreaths placed on a monument by the president and mayor of Seoul on Friday.
“What good are (those flowers) if they couldn’t protect (our children)?” exclaimed this woman presented by a local media as the mother of one of the stampede victims.
“What’s the point of being near these (crowns) when they let our babies die?” He still lashed out in front of local television cameras.
Police officers were then seen leading him away from the monument in front of Seoul City Hall.
Apology from the President of South Korea
President Yoon was there on Friday along with other officials who apologized for the mess, including the national police chief and the interior minister.
“As the president responsible for the life and safety of the people, I am deeply saddened and regretful,” he said then.
“I know that our government and I … have a great responsibility to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.”
End of national mourning this Saturday
A group of Korean youth held a separate commemoration in downtown Seoul, which organizers said was attended by 500 people.
“I can’t believe that people my age died just because they wanted to have fun on Halloween,” said Park Tae-hoon, 29, one of the organizers and a member of the Jinbo Progressive Political Party.
He said before the event that his goal was to demand sanctions for those responsible and measures to prevent the tragedy from repeating itself.
The national mourning decreed in South Korea ends this Saturday, at the end of a week during which the flags were at half-staff and the events were cancelled. How the Itaewon crowd was handled that night in Itaewon is under scrutiny as investigations try to tease out the exact cause of the stampede.
Source: BFM TV
