Victims' families vow to protect illegal memorial

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Victims' families vow to protect illegal memorial

Published: 15 Feb. 2023, 17:13 Updated: 15 Feb. 2023, 18:55

Bereaved families of victims of the Itaewon tragedy hold a press conference at the memorial altar in front of Seoul City Hall on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Bereaved family members of victims of the Itaewon tragedy vowed to protect their unauthorized makeshift memorial in front of Seoul City Hall despite the city government's demand that they remove it by 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“We will do everything we can do to protect our children in City Hall Plaza,” said Lee Jong-chul, the head of an association of bereaved families, during a press conference in front of the makeshift memorial Wednesday.

Lee is the father of 24-year-old actor Lee Ji-han, who was among those killed in Oct. 29's deadly crowd crush in the popular Itaewon nightlife district.

A day earlier on Tuesday, the victims’ families moved the memorial altar at Noksapyeong Station in Itaewon to the makeshift memorial in front of the city hall, merging the two.

According to the families, the decision was made to prevent the city government from removing the memorial in front of the city hall, as well as in response to complaints from business owners in Itaewon hurt by the Noksapyeong memorial.

The memorial altar at Noksapyeong Station was erected on Dec. 14 and had been open to the public for about two months.

“We regret not hearing anything back from the victims’ families, who have thus far refused to initiate a dialogue,” the city government said in a statement responding to the families' press conference.

The city government said it is open to any discussion with the families of the victims as long as the proposals are legal, noting that the makeshift memorial currently in front of city hall — hastily erected on Feb. 4 — is illegal.

“The city government and the citizens of Seoul believe that we have waited long enough for a response,” the city said.

Seoul's city government stressed that although the memorial would inevitably be removed by force according to the Administrative Vicarious Execution Act, the city remains open to hearing back from the families.

The city government had issued notices to the bereaved families on Feb. 4 and 6 to remove the memorial by Feb. 8.

When the families refused to do so, Seoul pushed back the deadline for the memorial's removal to Feb. 15.

The city government also proposed that the victims’ families suggest an alternative space to commemorate the victims instead of the city hall.

However, the bereaved families turned the proposal down, saying they would not respond to proposals made through the press rather than directly to the families.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Ha Ju-hee, the secretary general of the liberal civic group Lawyers for a Democratic Society, said the victims' families have never received a proper notice from the city government to remove the memorial altar.

"Notices are not issued through the media," said Ha. "They have to clearly specify who must do what, and the families have received nothing of the kind."

The makeshift memorial was still standing in front of the city hall as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]