Lawmakers pay tribute to Itaewon victims 100 days after tragedy

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Lawmakers pay tribute to Itaewon victims 100 days after tragedy

Passersby pay tribute to victims who were killed in the Itaewon crowd surge on Sunday at a mourning altar set up by the victims’ relatives near Seoul Square in downtown Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Government gave the relatives until Monday at 1 p.m. to remove the installation. [YONHAP]

Passersby pay tribute to victims who were killed in the Itaewon crowd surge on Sunday at a mourning altar set up by the victims’ relatives near Seoul Square in downtown Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Government gave the relatives until Monday at 1 p.m. to remove the installation. [YONHAP]

Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle gathered with survivors and relatives of the victims of the Itaewon crowd surge on Sunday at the National Assembly to mourn for the lost lives 100 days after the tragedy.
 
Lawmakers vowed to get to the bottom of the incident and prevent any similar reoccurrences.
 
Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung denounced President Yoon Suk Yeol for not participating in the event, saying it’s a pity that Yoon chose not to make an appearance to remember the victims and comfort their surviving families.
 
The Itaewon crowd surge took 158 lives, including 26 foreigners, mostly under the age of 30, after they were crushed in a narrow alleyway next to the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon, central Seoul on Oct. 29 during Halloween celebrations.
 
Large crowds came from opposite directions of the sloped alley, causing revelers to fall on top of each other.
 
One teenage survivor who lost a friend later committed suicide, bringing the official death count to 159.
 
The memorial ceremony was held a day after the victims’ families and civic group members marched through downtown Seoul, demanding President Yoon issue an official apology, sack Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min and establish an independent investigation agency to probe the cause of the tragedy.
 
At one point during their march on Saturday, the protesters stopped in front of Seoul Plaza, which is right next to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, to install a memorial altar for the victims, clashing with police officers and some 70 Seoul government officials who tried to stop them.
 
A memorial ceremony for victims of the Itaewon crowd surge, bottom, is held in downtown Seoul on Saturday near an antigovernment rally led by the Democratic Party. [YONHAP]

A memorial ceremony for victims of the Itaewon crowd surge, bottom, is held in downtown Seoul on Saturday near an antigovernment rally led by the Democratic Party. [YONHAP]

It took the relatives a mere 10 minutes to set up the altar.
 
One relative of an Itaewon tragedy victim lost consciousness during the altercation and was whisked to a nearby hospital by ambulance.
 
In a series of statements on Saturday and Sunday, the Seoul Metropolitan Government expressed “regret” for the unauthorized installation and gave the relatives until Monday at 1 p.m. to remove it.
 
The Seoul government said it cannot allow the altar to be permanently installed in a place that’s meant to guarantee “free use” to the public.
 
Instead, the office suggested the altar to be set up in Noksapyeong Station near Itaewon.
 
The relatives shot back, saying they would stand by the altar around the clock and fight against any attempts from the city or police to dissemble it.
 
Tensions between the city and relatives have been boiling in recent days ever since the Seoul Metropolitan Government refused to allow an Itaewon memorial ceremony to be held at Gwanghwamun Square.
 
The relatives changed their plans and got permission to march down Sejong-daero, which passes by Seoul Square and Gwanghwamun Square.
 
But after installing the altar, the relatives held a memorial ceremony with other civic group members on Sejong-daero, occupying nearly half of the eight-lane street.
 
Police tried to disband the protesters on the grounds that they only had permission to march down the street — not stop midway to hold the mourning event — but the efforts ended in vain.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN, LEE JI-YOUNG [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]
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