3 years after Itaewon crowd crush, South Korea mourns with bereaved local and foreign families

SEOUL – A memorial ceremony marking the third anniversary of the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush was held in Seoul on Oct 25 – the first such service attended by the bereaved families of foreign victims.

The ceremony, co-organised by the government and a civic group representing the victims’ families, also marked the first time the South Korean government officially took part in such an event as an organiser.

On the night of Oct 29, 2022, which fell on a Saturday just two days before Halloween, an unprecedented

crowd crush in Itaewon

– a district known for its global culture and nightlife – claimed 159 lives as people gathered to celebrate Halloween. Of those who died, 21 were foreign nationals.

The ceremony began with a reading of each victim’s name at Seoul Plaza at 6.34pm – the time when the first emergency calls were made to police on the night of the disaster.

One of the factors blamed for the high death toll was the lack of coordinated response and control among the authorities, even though a large crowd had been expected. It was the first major public event since the lifting of strict social distancing measures implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Song Hae-jin, head of the 1029 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Council – a civic group founded in December 2022 to honour the victims and demand accountability – urged the government to take continued action, saying that the bereaved families are still suffering.

She called for the participation of survivors and witnesses in the investigation by the special committee, which was launched in May 2024 following the enactment of a special law to guarantee victims’ rights, determine the cause of the incident and prevent a recurrence.

“Since that day, the bereaved families have had to live with the loss of their loved ones. On top of the sorrow, they also had to fight against the government’s evasion of responsibility – a second act of harm against the victims,” Ms Song said in her opening remarks.

“For the foreign bereaved families, the pain was even more devastating. They had to endure their grief alone in a distant country without hearing a word of apology from the South Korean government.”

The event also marked the first time the memorial included bereaved relatives of the foreign victims as a group. A total of 46 family members from 12 countries attended, arriving in Seoul on Oct 24 at the government’s invitation.

Six family members of victims from Australia, Norway, Iran, China, Russia and Kazakhstan each delivered a tribute in their native languages, which were sequentially interpreted for Korean-speaking participants.

“It has been three years since I received the call and e-mail no parent could ever imagine. I still cannot believe or understand that my daughter is gone,” said Ms Susanne Evensen, mother of the late Stine Evensen from Norway.

Ms Raina Valeryan, sister of the late Kristina Madina from Russia, called on the South Korean government to fully investigate the incident and hold those responsible accountable.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok attended the memorial, marking the first time a high-ranking government official has participated in the ceremony, along with Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung.

Mr Kim vowed continued efforts to uncover the truth and hold those responsible to account, stressing that the tragedy was caused by the government’s failure in safety management.

“Although both disaster response and preventive measures have been revised since the tragedy, many tasks still remain,” he said.

The government will also hold a separate memorial ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul at 10.29am on Oct 29. According to the Interior Ministry, the ceremony will include a one-minute siren across Seoul in remembrance of the victims.

South Korean authorities have since strengthened safety measures to prevent such tragedies from recurring. During a Cabinet meeting earlier in October, President Lee Jae Myung urged both central and local governments to give special attention to crowd management at public events.

Interior Minister Yun reported that his ministry would operate a special Halloween safety period from Oct 24 to Nov 2, and would issue a nationwide “crowd alert” at the caution level for the first time to raise public awareness and concentrate resources.

The measures include the designation of 29 special management zones – with particular focus on the Itaewon and Hongdae districts – and the deployment of about 4,900 police officers to ensure public safety. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK